The New Flock Members
by xxxAbbeyDawn
Summary: The Flock is in town, and they meet twin mutants. They get two new members, and the new guys are interested in a little lurve. Sorry people, Author's Univ. A little OOC-ness, but it's all cool. Not all romancey-but oh well. Read, plz!
1. Chapter 1

Wow. Um. Okay, really long chapter, took forever to write, don't blame me if it takes a while to get the next part up. It's not my fault! I hope you like, and I need comments and criticism on this, seriously, way more than any of my other stories. I'm going to put them all on a temporary hiatus (if that means what I think it means. (and hope!)) so I can get going on this one. It takes a while to get the good stuff, and gives a lot of background on Aly and Jace, but trust me, it's good!

-xxxAbbeyDawn

A.K.A. Me (in case you didn't know)

Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride and other characters, I just twisted it around and shoved it in his face.

**New York Surprise**

**Part One**

I stared ahead dully as I wandered the almost-empty streets of Queens. The bag of groceries hanging from my wrist swung forward and back, keeping time with my steps. The dark road glistened with rain, the streets brightly lit.

_Psh_, I thought to myself. _Rich people_! They always needed everything just so, their dogs bathing in one hundred percent pure Evian water, their clothes nothing but the latest.

I didn't even know what I was doing in here. I was going to have to fly all the way back to Manhattan, and even though it's not really that far, you try to fly above New York. It's incredibly hard, because at any moment anyone can glance out their window and see you.

Yep. That's what I said. _Fly_. My wings were almost thirteen feet wide, dark purple flecked with black. Odd, I know, but they were doing experiments with combining human, feline, and avian DNA, and somehow I got the dull part of the peacock spectrum. My brother, though, got the bright end.

His wings were about two feet wider than mine, and just as powerful. That was where I _should_ be, with my brother, but I was stubborn, insisting on strolling through the richest end of Queens before heading back to our tiny apartment.

After the School had, on some crazy whim, let us loose on the world with tracker collars, we had headed to the nearest blacksmith's and gotten them peeled off. 'Course, we had had to do it ourselves, but that didn't stop us.

We had ambled around aimlessly, learning everything about the world outside human DNA experimentation, and somehow ended up at probably the biggest city in the nation.

I think.

Maybe it wasn't. But it was hard to imagine anything bigger than a dog cage, especially when you were raised for the first ten years of your life in one.

Yep. You heard me. They kept us in dog cages, testing us again and again until we were empty of blood, empty of the energy to do it any longer.

And maybe, just maybe, that was the insane reason they had chosen to let us go with detonating tracker collars on.

Anyway, at least they had done something right. It had been hard, though, making the transition from dog cage to real world.

One's a few feet by a few feet, the other's a couple thousand miles by a couple _million_ miles. Yeah. What a tiny change there.

The wind sped up, ruffling my hair around me. My sweatshirt threatened to peel itself open and I huddled it closer to me with a groan. I sped up my slow walk, finding the nearest fire escape.

I climbed it lazily and slowly, still hunched against the cold. Once I was at the top and the metallic clang of my footsteps had faded from my ears, I strode quietly to the middle of the roof.

The clouds above me trembled angrily, and drops of cold rain hit me. I groaned again. Flying in the rain? Not my kind of fun. Especially because it takes forever for my feathers to dry out.

I slid my sweatshirt off, tying it around my waist, yanking on the sleeves viciously. A few weeks ago, my brother and I had been flying to New Jersey to see a concert that we had missed up here, and I was over the ocean when, oh! My favorite sweatshirt had fallen down, lost in the waters.

Poor, poor me. Oh well. It had been flimsy, just for looking cute anyway. I didn't know why I bought it in the first place. Sure, it was on red tag clearance, _five whole freaking dollars_, if you could believe it!(In New York, a great achievement for the economy) And I had instantly loved it.

I hadn't felt that much of an urge to dive down in the ocean, soaking my feathers, and risk missing the concert, so I had just flown on, telling my brother about it later.

The concert had been worth it, too. The Taylor Twins had been on tour, and we had missed them at the park because Jace and I had taken a pretty nasty fall in the sewer. Rescuing guys that had fallen in the sewer mains? No problemo, Aly and Jace, mutant supreme, to the rescue!

I unfurled my wings, sighing in relief as they slid through the holes torn in my shirt. They spread wide, all of the soreness in my wings muscles disappearing until I felt totally and completely free of the world.

I ran a few steps, tightening my hold on the plastic bag in my hand, and leaped into the air, slapping the air with my wings.

I soared up, high above Queens. I floated over the river, circling as I lowered down to land on the bridge into Manhattan. I let my wings fall back into their notches and pulled on my sweatshirt.

I jogged the rest of the way to our apartment, very conveniently close to the bridge, but far enough away that the rent wasn't sky high.

The key jiggled in the doorknob until it clicked open, and our cat, Kiki slipped in the crack of a door. I slipped the key back onto my necklace, dropping it down my shirt again and pushing the door open with my shoulder.

"Hey, bro," I called out, and Jace let out a semi greeting, a hand fluttering in the air manly-y. The TV was off, the remote lying carelessly in his hand. I picked it up as I walked past him to the kitchen table, turning on the news.

I dropped the bag on the table and turned back around, turning the volume up and dropping the remote back into it's place in his hand. I tugged my sweatshirt off, walking to my room and tossing it onto the mattress lying on the floor, picking up a lacy black tank top.

I changed into it quickly, yanking off my damp pants and yanking on black shorts. I picked up a gray sweatshirt just in case, because hey, I actually do care that our landlord doesn't know about our current mutant status!

The door swung shut behind me, the empty door knob hole gaping at me. I snarled at it. "You know, we really do need to get this place fixed up," I reminded Jace. He turned his face to me as I plopped down next to him.

"Why?" He asked, lazily. "It's fine the way it is, isn't it, Aly?"

I shook my head. "I still don't have a doorknob, it's just a big hole," I reminded him. His frown grew wider.

"And what, you think _I'm_, the blindest person you know, including your _twin_, going to feel the irresistible urge to just walk up and stare at you?" He turned his head back away, his fingers curling into fists.

"No," I said, sad that he had taken it that way. He had been itchier about his blindness lately, probably because of his raging male hormones and his lack of the ability to see whatever girl it was he was making out with tonight.

"I just mean, girls tend to like privacy like that. Like not seeing their twin half-naked, lying on the couch at frickin' nine p.m.!" I sighed, turning away from him. I stood walking to the stack of library books I had checked out, and yanked _Pride and Prejudice_ out of the middle of the pile.

Good book. I suggest you read. Over the past four or so years, I had read it two or three times a month, or as often as I could get a hold on a copy. I _used_ to own my own, but I had lost it somewhere in Arkansas when Jace and I had had to fly away from the truancy cops. Little buggers.

Jace let out a tight sigh as I settled onto the floor, a foot or so away from the TV. "You shouldn't sit that close to the screen," he told me, for the eighteenth time since last Monday.

"Shh!" I said, glaring at him. "Desperate Housewives is starting!"

Funny, but I had evolved into the whole fourteen-year-old girl thing pretty well. Obsessed with Hugh Laurie, though, which probably wasn't too normal. Forty-year-old geezer, fourteen-year-old human mutant. Which is weirder?

After about half an hour of Drama!, I guess my brother was getting pretty tired of shrilly voices and he went back to the kitchen, sticking everything in the fridge and cabinets, and pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

I heard a slap on the counter; he had hit something. I raced into the kitchen, my feet skidding. I picked up the Raid and stared around wildly for the offensive bug.

"Where? Where is it?" I asked frantically, wanting to hurry before I missed it. Jace smiled grimly, holding up his hand to show me the squashed cockroach on his palm. He grimaced, wiping it off into the trash can with an "Ugh!"

"Aww, come on, bro!" I whined. "You know I've been tracking that guy for months now!' I dropped the Raid back onto the floor dejectedly and trudged away.

Jace laughed. "I know, I know, but he was getting away. You'll find another one soon enough."

"No, I won't! Because You! Keep on killing them all!" I humphed, falling back down onto the floor. Kiki climbed up into my lap, purring reassuringly, her kitty ears twitching. I grinned, and tweaked them, feeling my own tremble underneath my black knitted hat.

I pulled it off, rubbing the short fur on them softly. That's right. cat ears, _and_ wings. I mean, how much weirder can you get? Jace had them too, which was a reassurance. At least I wasn't the only one in this whole world with a pair of wings and fuzzy cat ears.

Kiki let out a mrrowl of laughter, batting my ear lightly. I laughed, tugging on her tail. She licked my arm and seemed to smile, settling down on my crossed legs, her fur warm and prickly. I petted her until she slipped off into sleep, still purring lightly.

I heard a snore from behind me and realized that forever had passed, and my brother was asleep on the couch. I muted the volume on the TV, slipping our cat from my lap. She slid off, giving me a mad glare before stalking away to the kitchen. I heard the sounds of her cat food scratching around the bowl, and her sharp teeth snapping the bits apart, chewing and swallowing.

I left the light in the kitchen on, turning the ones in the doorway and main room off. Jace looked comfortable in all of his half-naked glory, lounging on the couch. I smirked, turning the heater down.

_Serves him right_, I thought to myself. I walked to the bathroom and turned the water on, picking up my toothbrush. Kiki jumped up on the table, her black-silver fur reflecting the bare light bulb's glow dully. I pushed her off, ignoring her winding around my feet, and brushed my teeth.

Switching the light off, I checked Jace's room. It was a mess, as always, the heater still on. I opened his door, hoping the heat would float into my room, in which the heater did _not_ work, and swung open the door to my room.

The moon's glow seeped through the windows, tinted with that papery tinting crud you can buy at the store, for secrecy purposes. The long curtains hung pinned to each side, framing the prison bars on my window, to keep people out.

All of the houses in New York had bars and padlocks, but there were people I knew that could find their way around them. Including me.

I used my power for good though, not anything like robbing people.

More like, borrowing money. Only when we really needed it, like when we couldn't get jobs.

Me and Jace usually did odd jobs, I had a part-time at a supermarket. Still bagger status. Jace had a harder time finding jobs, because of his blindness. People thought that he could barely find a doorknob, which _was_ his fault, from trying not to show how well he moved around without sight.

I stepped in, almost stepping on Kiki as she snuck in. She jumped up onto the stick-thin windowsill, settling herself down and balancing precariously with her tail.

The bed was covered with old clothes, blankets, books, and everything else a fourteen-year old mutant could want in her life. Including books on birds and genetic experimentation. Just because, you know, I like to learn about science.

I sighed, shoving them apart to make a small hole, covered with blankets. I yanked them up around me, sticking a pillow behind me and fell asleep sitting up, my wings stretched out to cover me.

The alarm's harsh blare woke me out of the soundest sleep I had in a long time. I slapped it quiet with the hell of my hand, groaning and pulling my wings back in. I sat there a few minutes, Kiki on my lap and purring like crazy, and my eyes started to drift closed again, wishing I could return to my heaven, which consisted of cookies and ice cream.

"Aly! Wakey, wakey!" Jace called out loudly, standing up. I could hear the creak of him pushing the bed part of the pullout bed back in. He must have woken sometime during the night and not bothered to head to his own room.

I groaned again, knowing he wouldn't give up until I was in the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I shoved Kiki off my lap rudely, earning a glare from her for interrupting her sleep. I stuck my tongue out at her and she wriggled back over to where I had been sitting, getting that warmth from the blankets.

I wiggled my shoulders, getting the feathers to fall back into their places around my spine. The scent of fresh coffee drifted over to my nose, making me twitch it in anticipation. It was accompanied by the smell of toast, slightly burnt.

Practically jumping out of my room, I dashed to the kitchen. Jace was grinning, holding a plateful of toast and eggs, piled high until the point of collapse. I grinned at my brother, pouring myself a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, Jace," I said, sipping the hot, black coffee. He nodded, eating his own breakfast. I plopped a chunk of toast in my mouth, swallowing almost before it hit my tongue. I was starving, seeing as how I hadn't eaten in a day and a half. I chugged the coffee, waking up instantly from the caffeine and heat.

I glanced at the clock above the stove, checking the time. I dropped my plate with a gasp when I saw the time.

"Jace!" I yelled, dropping the plate. "Why didn't you wake me earlier??" I rushed to my room, changing into a pair of light jeans and pulling a pink tank top over my black one. I threw a sweatshirt on and dug my keys out of yesterday's pants, picking up my wallet on the floor. After searching around for a few seconds I found my backpack, hidden under blankets.

Slinging it over my shoulder, I yanked a necklace and a bracelet out, along with my notebook, shoving them deep into the pockets. I yanked my black hat over my ears, glancing in a mirror to make sure they were sufficiently hidden. I raced out the door, trying not to fall over Kiki, and headed out the door.

"Get to work!" I called out to Jace, tossing one of our subway train fare cards at him. He caught it, a smile on his face, and stuffed it in his pocket, waving goodbye.

I closed the door behind me, waiting until I heard the lock fall into place and Jace walk away. I ran down the stairs, trying not to slip on the wet wood, dodging piles of crumbled concrete and cats and dogs, lying on the stairs.

I glanced at my watch, cursing under my breath. I was going to be late for work, and it was my last chance. I pulled my cell phone out of a pocket on my backpack and dialed without looking.

"Hey, Bobby," I said, happy. "I need a ride," I told him. His sleepy voice asked when and where. "Um, as soon as you can get there, the AM PM down the street." Bobby agreed, and I could hear the bed shifting and a dog growl, the door slipping open. "Thanks, dude."

I walked quickly, getting to the gas station just as Bobby was pulling up in his old, dull red Honda. I jumped in the front seat, dropping my backpack by my feet. The air vents were pumping out semi-warm air and I pulled my sleeves back, putting my hands in the direct air stream.

The heat tickled my fingers as it rushed out, moving in swift currents around and past my hand. Bobby glanced at me, a critical eyebrow raised.

"Cold," I told him, glancing back at his chocolate eyes. He nodded, turning his head to look out the windshield. He started tapping his fingers in time to the Slipknot floating out of his cd player, hooked up to a speaker. The music crackled over every bump in the road.

"Late?" He asked, leaning forward to look up at the bright blue sky. "Again?" He added, raising his eyebrow again. I stared at him, offended.

"Hey! I'm not late _that_ often!" I objected, crossing my legs on the fake leather seats. He growled low under his breath and I stuck my tongue out at him. Bobby sighed, rubbing the stubble on his chin. I could hear his fingers rasp over it.

I was thrown forward unexpectedly as Bobby hit the brakes, and threw my hands out to catch myself on the dash. "Dumb sh-" he began to say, cutting himself off halfway through to look at me.

"You alright?" He asked, staring at the seat belt that was most obviously _not_ around me. "You really should start buckling up."

I shook my head. Seat belts made me feel compressed, like when my dog cage had been slammed into the corner of a table, and I was almost crushed by the weight as the plastic bent in, transferring all of the energy and weight from things falling on top of it to me. Nobody had found me until hours later, and I felt like screaming when something was pushed against my chest.

"Nah, I'm fine," I told him, shaking my hands. The bones had jammed against each other from the impact. "You don't wear one," I said, staring at his missing seat belt. Bobby shrugged, his dark green shirt wrinkling with the movement.

"I'm older than you. I can handle it." The cars in front of us started jerking forward and Bobby tapped the gas again. I straightened myself out, sitting up straight in the seat again.

I glanced at my watch nervously, only a few minutes left to get to my job. Bobby caught my fidgeting and swerved, entering the next lane. Cars honked as he barged in their way, and quieted down when he went right out the other side onto a narrow alley.

"You sure you want to go this way?" I asked, my fingers clenching unconsciously.

"Shortcut," Bobby said bluntly, stepping on the gas. He turned the wheels in tiny increments to avoid the trash bags in our way, and zoomed out the other end. He sailed through traffic, right onto the parking lot of my work place.

I grinned, laughing. "Great shortcut," I said, and Bobby grinned at me. I swung my door open, jerking my backpack out by the handle. "Thanks." Bobby's eyes twinkled with laughter and he waved goodbye, watching me go in.

The automatic doors slid shut behind me and I turned to see him still sitting there, staring out after me. I waved bye again and turned, walking to my usual station, checkout number twelve. I stashed my backpack in a shelf underneath it, pulling out my pin and sticking it on my chest.

Jane, the person who had the shift before mine, smiled and stashed her pin away, giving me a light hug before leaving. I stared after her, feeling sad for her. Her six-year old had just died last week and she had been trying harder than ever to earn extra money. She was walking off this job onto another, and working all night.

I made small talk with Louis at the register, whom I had nicknamed Huggles because he hugged everyone. He gave me a tight hug, lifting me off my feet and dropping me back down. I brushed my hair back out of my face, tying it up quickly in a ponytail.

"Slow day?" I asked, gesturing at the register. Louis nodded, sitting on the bagging counter behind him.

"Yep. I thought for sure the sale on soda and meat would really get people coming," he said, sadly. He hung hid head and shook it, his long hair shifting back and forth. I reached forward, shoving him off the counter. He grinned. "On time, today, eh?"

"Yessir! I am _not_ losing this job!'

Louis shook his head sadly again. "You know, one chance left," he reminded me. I nodded. "That's what they get for hiring a fourteen year-old," he muttered under his breath, making sure I heard. I cupped a hand to my ear, leaning toward him.

"What? What was that? I didn't quite catch that," I said, trying hard not to laugh. He grinned, watching a cute couple come up to the register.

And so the day went, until five hours later, I was getting ready to leave. Louis gave me another hug, leaving a few minutes before me. At this 'fine establishment', baggers worked five hours, workers on the cash register eight. This made for a confusing shift schedule, constantly changing, because they were open twenty-four/seven. Nice job, huh?

I walked to the door, stalking out as the automatic doors opened to release me. The parking lot was half full, beat up cars sitting in the parking spots. Some people had parked in the handicapped spots illegally, and I patted them as I walked by.

I reached in my backpack as I walked down the street to a bus station, yanking out my notebook and flipping it open. It took me a while to find the page, but I found this week's, the 'Friday' section lying blank. I smiled, shutting it and sticking it back in my backpack.

I had given myself a day off. I watched as the number fifty bus rolled up, people slipping their ways in and out. I dropped a few coins in, hoping it was enough.

I guess it was, because I plopped down in a seat close to the back, relatively clear of people. I flicked out my phone, and relished the fact that nobody looked at me strangely on a bus or train.

I dialed my brother, listening to the phone ring and ring. He never picked up, and I was turned over to his voicemail. '_Hey, this is Jace's phone. Sorry I can't take your call at the moment. You know what to do at the beep. Beep!'_ I waited for the fuzziness to stop, and for the real beep to sound.

"Jace. Aly here. Meet me at Rob's deli, k?" I shut my phone, the key chain tied to it jiggling as I tossed it up in the air, caught it, and shoved it deep in pocket again.

A semi-goth sitting across from me caught my eye. He was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt, his shoes were crudely colored with sharpie. He kept swiveling his head this way and that, cautious and ever aware. His gaze kept drifting back to a few kids sitting up front, his eagle eyes catching everything.

I shivered lightly. _Chimo,_ I thought, as he started tapping his fingers impatiently and his leg started jiggling.

He turned his head to focus his dark eyes on me, his mouth in a grim line. I blushed, turning away a second too late, and in the corner of my eye saw a smile drift across his face. He turned away slowly, his eyes lingering.

I felt my fingers twitch as my heart froze, waiting for him to forget me. The bus stopped outside the deli and I jumped off as fast as I could, trying to stay calm at the same time. I ran inside, shoving the door open ahead of me. It swung shut loudly, and Jace called to me from the back of the empty store.

I walked towards his voice, dropping backpack on the way. I shrugged off my sweatshirt, dropping it by my backpack. He was sitting on a couch with Derek, one of our best friends that had found out about our wings a year or so ago, playing on the Xbox.

I watched as a tank incinerated, burning slowly. Derek and Jace laughed in delight, watching it blow up. Well, Jace was listening.

Bobby walked in, two sodas in hand. He tossed one to me, and popped the top of his own.

I sat down on the floor to the side of the couch, a foot or so behind Bobby. He had shaved, showered, and changed his clothes since he had picked me up, and I could smell the Axe on him.

I glanced up at Jace, seeing him without his hat. "Did you come here without your hat?" I asked, talking loudly so he could hear me over the roar of the game. He shook his head, tossing his hat to me. It was light green, with two dark blue stripes around it near the bottom.

It was his favorite, worn so much that the thread was thinning, getting looser. I made sure to buy a new one every once in a while, but Jace never knew what he looked like. I tossed the hat back up to him.

I peeled my own hat off, my ears twitching as they were met fully with the blare of the tv. I winced, turning them backwards. I tilted my head down, staring at the tips of my hair. The dark gray streaks were disappearing, done at home weeks ago, out of my blonde hair. The dark red tips were fine, because I still needed a trim.

I would give myself one later tonight, I told myself, popping my soda open. It hissed, spraying Pepsi.

"Hey, have your wings gotten any bigger?" Derek asked absently, still staring at the television screen. He always wanted to see them, as often as possible, and I hated it. Jace was fine with it, though, and if he was okay with it, then I was.

I shook my head. "I don't think so," I told him. He sighed disappointedly and Bobby entered the conversation, picking up a controller.

"Whose wings are bigger?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at me.

I stood warily, knowing that nobody would talk about anything else besides wings and feathers until Jace and I had shown them.

Ah, the price of friendship. Oh well. They never told anyone, and for most of the part they didn't remember we even had wings and cat ears. They were used to it by now.

I hiked the back of my tank top up, and unfurled my wings. They spread, the tips almost brushing the walls. "C'mon, Jace," I said, tapping his shoulder. He sighed, standing obediently and peeling his shirt off. He turned so he was facing away from me and unfurled his own wings, the bright colors spreading out.

Derek grinned, laughing as I noticed that Jace's feather tips were bending back on themselves, too big for the room. I growled under my breath. "What?" Jace asked, confused.

"Your wings are bigger than Aly's now," Ira interjected, uncurling from the tiny armchair she was in. She stretched, yawning widely.

For all her straight-up human blood, she acted more like a cat than us. She straightened her legs out, the black mini dress hitching up slightly. Her rainbow striped socks peeked over the top edge of her combat boots, the lace wrapped around bright, multi-colored string in the laces ruffling. She would have to change the lace soon, it was coming undone at the edges.

Derek smiled as Ira stood, walking over to him, and plopped down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek lightly. She stole his controller and decided to blow up Bobby. He objected, throwing his controller at her.

Jace chuckled, his wings folding back in. He pulled his shirt back on, pulling it straight. I looked at Ira, frowning. "So what if his wings got just a little bit bigger than mine?" I asked, mad.

Derek pointed at the tiny window, his eyes and mouth wide. "Um…I think we've got company," he said, as a small face peeked into the corner, disappearing as it saw our eyes. Another face poked up slowly, saw us, and flashed back down.

I gasped, my wings falling back into place. I cursed under my mouth, more than a sailor would, and dropped my tank tops back down. Ira jumped off of Derek's lap, dragging him to his feet. Bobby sprang up, forgetting the game. He looked at me, his eyes wide. Jace was staring around, scared because he didn't know what was happening.

Derek calmed him down, telling him about it. Everybody raced for the door, hoping we could catch them.

I was outside first, running around the building. I heard a muffled shriek and picked up the pace, coming to a halt in the back.

There, in front of me, was Goth Guy. He had a brown- and blonde- haired girl off to his side, and three kids ranged around them. Another guy, tall and lanky, stood, almost invisible, a few feet behind him.

I was immediately on the defensive, charging the girl. Ira tackled Goth Guy, kicking him with her boots. Derek and Bobby each grabbed a kid by the collar, hoisting them up in the air. Bobby held another up in his other hand, keeping her at arm's length.

Jace stood off to the side, awkward.

I hunched my shoulder as I crashed into the girl, hearing her breath wheeze out of her. She grasped wildly for me, her hands locking onto the sides of my head. She bashed her forehead into mine and I hissed at the sharp pain.

She grabbed an ear, twisting it cruelly. I bent my head, biting back tears of pain and punching her.

"Oh no you don't," she said under her breath, kicking me in the gut. I doubled over and groaned, then sprang back up and kicked her in the gut, too.

I punched her jaw hard, at the point where it met up with the rest of her skull. She hissed in pain, grabbing her head, and melted to the ground.

Ira had Goth Boy tackled on the wet ground, making sure he couldn't move with an elbow pressed into his neck. His face was starting to turn red and she gave me a helpless look.

I stood, spitting out blood, and walked over to them. I glared down at his dark eyes and felt my determination crumble, and then strengthen when I remembered what they had seen.

I slammed my hand into the side of his head, watching it loll off to the side and his whole body relax. Ira stood gratefully, wiping her hands off on her dress.

The sleeve was torn by the shoulder, a chunk of it missing from the hem. I turned around to see Bobby and Derek holding three unconscious kids, the invisible one under Jace's feet. He seemed not to know that the Invisi-boy was also unconscious, and was staring at him wildly.

"Let's haul 'em inside," Derek suggested, tipping his head back to look up at the sky. It looked like one huge bruise, and I felt a drop fall on my face as I gazed up. I nodded, helping Ira drag Goth Guy inside. Jace immediately went to work with his guy.

Derek and Bobby soon had all of their 'kills' inside, and the only one left was the girl I had knocked out.

I dragged her slowly, making sure to get her hair, back, and face all over in the mud. I had her inside when she twitched her head and spat out, snarling weakly at me.

I grinned, watching as she tried to move weakly, and gave up. The chairs and couch had been pushed out of the way, everybody lined up one by one, tied to the chairs they were seated in.

I tied her roughly to Goth Guy's chair, wrapping the rope around her hands and the leg.

Derek tossed everybody more sodas, and we settled down to watch them wake up.

Blondie was first to talk. She snarled at me. I smiled back at her.

"What'd you do that for?" She asked, her voice harsh and mean.

"Oh, I don't know, for being, maybe, peeping toms?" Derek suggested, spreading his hands wide. She shook her head.

"We weren't peeping!" She objected, shaking her head and glancing around at the other kids. Goth Guy woke with her voice, swiveling his head around, assessing the situation. Blondie started to talk again and he nudged her.

"Shut _up_, Max!" He hissed under his breath, his eyes catching me. His eyes narrowed. And he tipped his head back in acknowledgement. "The heck's wrong with you?" He asked, looking at my head. My hands flew to my ears, laid back flat against my head.

"Obviously, Fang, those two have freaking _cat_ ears, _and_ wings!" Blondie/Max said, her voice loud and sarcastic. Jace's ears flicked forward.

"Shut up, Max," he said again, getting her to shut up. Again. He kept staring at me, his eyes hard, but soft around the edges. I turned abruptly, avoiding his eyes. I walked back into the front of the deli, opening the door to their fridge, pulling out water bottles.

I walked back into the room to find the rest of them awake. I popped the tops of the bottles up and tossed one to each of them. They hastily tipped their heads forward, grabbing the bottles by the tip, and tipping their heads back, guzzling the water.

Max left hers lying on the ground, staring at me disgustedly. I stared back at her, listening to Ira, Derek, and Bobby whisper together.

"Why?" Goth Guy asked simply, looking down at his arms pointedly. He glanced back up at me, his eyes piercing.

"Because," I explained roughly, avoiding his gaze. "You saw us, now we need to figure how to either get rid of you, or shut you up."

He closed his mouth tightly, and looked away from me. One of the kids, a black girl who looked around twelve, opened her mouth.

"Fang brought us here, he wanted to see something, and he saw your wings, and he showed us, and we just want to talk to you, because we know what happened, and because Angel told me he lik-" She said, her voice fast and panicky. Goth Guy/Fang turned his head to glare at her.

"Nudge!" He said loudly, covering up the last of her sentence. She clammed up, closing her mouth tightly, and Jace walked up to them.

"What-" I asked Jace, and he waved a hand at me. He touched the talkative girl, Nudge, on the back, his nimble fingers drifting across her back. She shivered, her shoulders twitching the same way mine do when I unfurl my wings.

His blind eyes widened and he looked up at me. "Aly!" He whispered urgently, and waved me closer. I came, going around spit-girl in a wide arc. She glared at me as I went around.

"Feel her back," he said, moving aside so I could touch her. I felt my own eyes widened as I felt the bumps, one on either side of her spine.

"Yeah, I have wings! We all do! You got a problem with that?" Nudge said, twisting around to stare at us. My hand drifted over to the little girl next to her, across her wings, and on to the other little boy. He shivered and laughed as I ran my fingers over him.

I sat on the floor in front of the six, shocked. My mouth gaped like a fish, not knowing what to say.

Finally, the words floated out of my mouth.

"You're the other ones, aren't you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, my peeps. This is a pretty big story for me, and I'm just finishing chapter two. Read it, tell your friends about it, and link it if you love it. I need a review from everyone who reads this, with suggestions, comments, and criticism. Especially criticism. I need flames to build on, people!

Thank you for the (one!! One!!!) comment, I hope you stay a loyal reader, HydroWing. Thx for commenting. I hope you get to liking this story. You are currently my numero uno fan! (Number one, if you don't know that little teensy bit of Spanish, readers) *sigh* I still don't have a numero dos. (number two, again for you non-spanish speakers)

Discalimer: Obviously, I can't spell right now, so bear with me. J. Pat owns, nobody take my plot, new peoples, or anything of my own creation. There. I'm done.

**New York Surprise**

**Part Two**

Jace stared at me, incredulous. "What?" Blondie on the floor echoed him with another "Whaat?"

Yes. Very articulate. Arguments and agreements echoed around me, everybody was fighting with one another.

Fang was telling Max it was true, the two smallest kids were staring around, shocked, and the little black girl was pretty much shouting at Derek. Jace and Bobby were fighting, hitting each other every once in a while.

Ira was sitting by me, quiet. She stared at me as I remembered, back to when we were still at the experimentation lab.

'Yes, give me number…eleven,' a voice said. I recognized it as the harsh scrape of the guy who took blood samples. Ours. A little girl's solemn eyes stared out across the aisle at me, hunched and afraid. A scientist walked to her, dragging her out as she whimpered.

My twin brother had a cage down the row from me, the experiments between us had recently died and were carted away earlier. Jace stared at me, his eyes big and wide. I turned my head to glance at him and our eyes met.

_He promptly burst into tears. A voice from beyond him was loud enough for me to hear, and a ratty, brown-haired head peeked out around Jace to see me. Her voice was strong, but shaky at the same time._

_'D-don't worry. She'll be okay,' she said, trying hard to keep her voice light. The air in the lab room tensed, tightening on us until it was suffocating. _

_Hours later, the little girl came back. She was trying to hold back tears, and not doing very well. The girl who had spoken reached out to brush her fingers on the littler one's leg comfortingly. _

_The scientists left us, alone. They turned off the lights, slamming the door and locking us away behind them._

_I woke in the middle of the night to hear someone unlocking the door slowly and carefully. We were all alert, staring at the door. It creaked open slowly, revealing one of the older scientists, higher-up so he didn't see what they did to us. _

_His eyes met the other kid's and he hurried, sliding their cages open slowly and easing them out. They scrambled out, scared of him and happy at the same time. _

_I heard a sob and a 'Wait…Don't leave us…' from my brother. He reached his hands out toward the sound, still blinking widely, trying to see them. _

_They had done the surgery on him just a few days ago, the failed surgery. The scientist shook his head at us and kept walking out the door. _

_The sound of my brother crying drifted to my stunned self all night as I sat in disbelief. In the early morning, someone came into the room to check on us, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the six empty cages._

_'What'd you do?' He exclaimed, staring at us. He turned tail, his white coat billowing out with the movement, and his quick footsteps echoed down the hall._

"Aly?" A voice came to me. I blinked, startled out of my memories. I shook my head, coming back to the present. I looked at Ira, her face etched with questions. I shook my head again, this time at her instead of myself, and stood up stiffly.

The voices around me were louder now, indignant and arguing.

"EVERYONE!!" I shouted, at the top of my lungs. A few of them covered their ears, including Jace. He sent a glare my way and turned massaging his ears. My own voice rang inside mine, giving me a massive headache.

I lowered my tone a little.

"We were the two experiments they deemed 'failed'," I told them, pointing between my brother and me. They kept staring at me.

I hitched my tank tops up, half-unfurling my wings so the edges hung a few inches away from my face. I pulled the hair back from my face, showing them the smooth skin where human ears would be, and twitched my real ones.

Jace yanked his shirt off, hearing my own feathers rustle, and unfurled his wings. He brushed back his long hair, revealing the smooth side of his head. He stared blindly at me, waiting for me to say something.

"Oh, my God," Max said, and the littlest one started tearing up.

Fang recovered from his shock at our crazy wings, and wriggled his arms. The rope fell off, cut sharply. He stood, pulling off his sweatshirt and the rustle of wings told us the truth that spread out from his back.

"Yes. I remember now," he said, his voice straight and even. His eyes grew a little moist but he blinked it away. "We used to talk when they ran us."

Max stared up at him, her jaw slack. Blind boy, I knew now, had gone into the surgery before Jace. That was why they did it a second time; they thought they could do their night-vision enhancement better the second time around, and failed again. Horribly.

Blind boy opened his mouth. "I know the guy," he said quietly, ignoring everyone's looks. "He never talked to me, but I remember doing their endurance tests with him across the room, and I remember seeing the girl."

"Aly and Jace," I told him, and he nodded. I walked to the smallest one, the little girl from my memory, and carefully slid the ties off her hands. She flexed her fingers slowly, and smiled up at me, throwing an unexpected hug around my legs. I patted her on the head awkwardly and peeled her off.

Derek was untying the next youngest one, and Jace was working on the black girl. Nudge. Ira was releasing Max and Bobby was the only one objecting.

"What? How do you guys know you can trust them?!"

I walked up to him, giving him a level glare. "Because, Bobby. We went through the same thing," I said, and in the corner of my eye I saw Fang smile, staring at me. I blushed. "And nothing can bring people closer that that."

Bobby stared at me disbelievingly. I stared back at him, willing him to understand.

He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together, and turned sharply, walking out. The door slammed behind him, making the walls shake.

I turned, looking at all of them. A few of the other mutants were smiling at me, knowing they had made a friend. Fang's face was blank, although his eyes were smiling. Max was glaring at the floor, burning imaginary holes in it.

Nudge stood, pulling the littlest one to her feet. They stood, walking to me, shy smiles on their faces.

"Angel," the blond girl whispered, her voice muffled. I let them hug me for a while before the little boy stood, grinning hugely.

"I'm the Gasman," he said proudly, standing on front of me. My brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Why do they call you that?" I asked, and immediately Max, Fang, and the Blind Boy turned their heads away, covering their noses.

"Shouldn't have said that," Angel said, pushing her nose farther into my shirt. Nudge followed suit.

Derek, Jace, Ira, and I all stared around, bewildered. The Gasman was perfectly at home, and then he let loose.

"Aww, Gazzy," Blind Boy whined, pinching his nose. As the wave of stink rolled out, horrified looks came over our faces and we rushed out the door.

Blind Boy stumbled, and bumped into Jace. They held onto each other to stay upright, even though I don't think either of them knew the other was blind.

Angel clung to Max and Gazzy was attached to Blind Boy. Nudge and Jace were close, Derek was holding Ira. They all somehow ended up in a clump together, and Fang and I were the last ones out. He looked at me, a shy smile on his face, and walked close to me, our shoulders rubbing up against each other's.

We burst out into the rain, and Jace and I remembered we had left our hats inside. Jace stared around wildly, looking for cars or people, and I raced back inside.

The stink was dying down, but it was still worse than sewer stink. I picked up my hat, jamming it onto my head as fast as possible, and grabbed Jace's hat and sweatshirt on the way out.

I remembered my backpack and sweatshirt, dragging them along behind me.

Jace gratefully took his hat, putting it over his ears. I threw my sweatshirt on, zipping it up tightly, and tossed my backpack on.

Angel and Gazzy were holding Max's hands, Gazzy smiling meekly. Nudge, Blind Boy, and Jace were all still semi-attached. Derek was still holding Ira around the waist, and they were standing close to Jace. Fang was standing off to the side, all alone.

Bobby's car was gone, but Derek's tiny Ford pickup was sitting by the side of the road, looking small and lonely. I looked at Derek pointedly and he and Ira walked over to us.

Ira gave me tight hug, then walked to Derek's car, smoothing her dress down. She stared out at us, huddled on the sidewalk.

"Derek," I whispered. I reached up, standing on my tiptoes to talk in his ear. "Not a word, right?" He nodded, hugging me lightly. "We'll tell you all later."

Derek grinned awkwardly, patting my shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be fine even if we never know." His face grew a concerned look and he peered down into my eyes. "It's Bobby I'm worried about. The way he stormed off and all."

I nodded, pulling my sleeves down farther to cover my cold hands. The clouds above started misting us. I knew it was going to get heavier, and soon.

I waved goodbye to Derek and Ira as they drove away, off to who knows where they go when they're not with us.

I turned around to talk to Jace, and found Fang standing right behind me. My breath caught in my throat, and he took a step backwards, looking at me confusedly.

I felt my breath come back as he stepped away, and looked up to see his dark eyes staring at me. I almost melted, then and there.

"What's happening?" He asked bluntly, and Max came up to stand next to him.

"First, you beat us up," she started, and stepped in front of Fang, forcing him to take a step back so she could glare at me. "Then, you say 'oh, wait, let them go, we know them.' What do you want now?"

"I- I just, mean, I'm sorry, we didn't know, um…" I stuttered, scared by her glare, now not even an inch away from my face. She humphed, wheeling around on her heels to stare at Fang.

"We're leaving," she said tightly, pulling him with her. He gave me an apologizing look and turned around so I couldn't see his face. He followed her and dragged away Gazzy and Iggy, Nudge following them. Max held Angel's hand and kissed the top of her head.

They all stood a few feet apart, and unfurled their wings all at the same time. They took off one by one, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy.

Max turned her head to glare at me over her shoulder one last time, and leaped into the air. Fang stared up at her, his fists clenching unconsciously. He turned his head to focus his blank gaze on me again, and then followed Max into the air.

Jace found me, reaching out and waving his hands around before I called to him. His face was a huge mass of confusion as he laid his hand on my shoulder.

"What was that about?" He asked softly, staring blindly up in the sky. I tilted my head back to stare up, too, as if I could still see them. I shook my head, feeling my stringy wet hair slap my face.

"I don't know," I said under my breath. I adjusted my backpack on my shoulders and zipped my sweatshirt up tightly. "Let's go home."

Jace nodded, turning with me. His blind face stared out. "Fly or ride?"

He sounded hopeful that I would pick fly. I shook my head again. "No. Ride."

It was too far away from our apartment that we could walk, so we walked to the nearest bus station, lost deep in thought.

(Later)

I stopped to a dead halt at the doorway, staring at the door. Jace cocked his head, sniffing. "Who?" He asked, keeping his voice as light as possible.

I tipped my head back, sniffing the air, too. I leaned forward, scenting the air inside our apartment, and shook my head. I couldn't recognize any of the myriad scents that floated out.

"Somebody."

I pushed the door farther open, and gasped at what I saw inside.

The bed-couch was ripped apart, stuffing flying all over the place. The walls had deep gouges, plaster dripping out onto the floor. My library books were ripped into chunks, thrown around the room.

The TV was smashed in, the light bulbs had all been thrown on the floor, cracked. The sliding glass door was wide open, a gaping hole in the glass. The curtain on it was billowing out.

I stared down at the rug, shredded. Parts of it were ripped up, the wood underneath scored with claw marks. Jace's fingers curled into fists by his side, not knowing what had happened was making him nervous.

"Aly…?" His voice cracked me, as tense as it was. "What…"

I felt a tear course down my face. Kiki snaked her way around my legs, twirling around my ankles. I pushed her away and ignored her. I walked into the kitchen. Everything in here was exactly the same.

I hissed, an instinct. Someone had entered my territory, wrecked it, and left. I felt threatened, more than ever.

I walked slowly to my room, and heard Jace hissing too. His sounded more like a growl, and more threatening. The rest of the apartment was same old, same old. In my room there was practically no wall left, feathers from my bed coated everything.

Back in the front room, Jace was silent. I went back to him silently, and saw him touching the wall. He slid his fingers up and down and across the wall, and his face was afraid.

"Aly? Get out here," he called out. I stepped up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Look at this. What do you see?"

"Um, our ripped up wall?"

"No. There's words in here," he said, turning his blind eyes over his shoulder. "Can't you read them?" I shook my head no, and tapped my finger once on him to let him know. "Close your eyes and _feel_ it, then."

I did so, putting my fingers on the wall and sliding them in the pits. Up, down, up, down.

_W._

_E._

_L._

_L._

B.

My breath caught in my throat. "What the…" I murmured under my breath. My hand froze for a second, and then moved on.

"Jace," I whispered urgently. My eyes flashed open, searching around the apartment, scanning the walls and floor. There it was, etched into every possible surface.

_WE'LL BE BACK_.

"We have to go," he filled in for me. I felt my knees go weak with the threat hanging over our heads.

"_Now_," I finished. I dropped my backpack, throwing out my notebook. If they knew where we lived, they could find where I worked, and who our friends were.

I thought again, and stuffed the notebook back in. Just in case they didn't. Jace walked quickly to his room, and I heard clothes and money clanging around, hitting the walls. He came back out with a backpack stuffed full and jarfuls of money.

I raised an eyebrow. He seemed to sense it and held it up explaining. "We're going to need money. This is all I've collected over the past few months."

I nodded, even though he didn't see it, and went on emptying my backpack of anything I didn't need. I ran to my room, picking up a few extra pairs of clothes and shorts. I stuffed one of the only books not ripped up in my bag, picking up my wallet.

I found all of my cards, the subway fare card, bus card, and the mess of every other privilege I had here in New York, and jammed them in my pocket. I yanked up a brush, and stuffed a pair of sneakers inside.

My backpack was huge and pretty much magical in the fact that it could hold pound upon pound of worthless crap, which meant it could hold pound upon pound of worthy crap. I threw on an extra sweatshirt and walked back into the main room.

Jace was ready, his backpack over his shoulders. His face was expectant, waiting for me to say something.

"_Flying_," I told him, and went out on the balcony. It was tiny, but it held both of us easily. Kiki was waiting there, a can of cat food in her mouth and dragging her leash and collar as if she knew what was happening.

I couldn't leave her, so I picked her up, zipping her into my sweatshirt and pulling the collar around her head, attaching the leash. The cat food went in my pocket, and I double-checked to make sure I still had my wallet and cell phone.

"Ready?" Jace asked hesitantly. He stepped up on the railing and pulled himself onto the roof.

"Yeah," I told him. I climbed up beside him, angling my shoulders slightly so my wings would unfurl through all the holes in my clothes. The tank tops stretched between them, trying to make room in between the straps for them. "You?"

I winced, knowing my wings would be hurting later for not having holes in my shirts. Jace nodded. "Let's go."

I made sure Kiki was secure by my stomach, and checked to make sure Jace was good. He had had to take off his shirt to let his wings out, but he would be fine.

This was the way we flew all the time, because we couldn't walk around in public with wing holes in the back of our shirts, could we?

"Straight up, then angle forward until you're flying right by the clouds. It'll be cold, but you can deal, right?"

Jace bit his lip, thinking it over, and nodded. "Okay." He took a few steps backward, and waited for me to go first. I took the lead, jumping into the air and beating my wings hard so I could raise myself higher, faster.

Jace was still on the roof, curling his fingers anxiously. I checked Kiki once more, and then waited by the clouds. I had to beat my wings slow and hard to stay in one place, and my eyes were all over the place, making sure there was nobody watching.

"Yo," came a voice next to me. I almost snapped my wings back in, startled. I beat one wing harder than the other to float off to the side, away from the voice. I looked over to see Fang, staring down at the lonely island.

My heartbeat sped up even faster when I knew it was him, and my voice was tiny when I spoke.

"Whaaaat?" I asked, just as wordsy as Max had been earlier. A small grin flashed onto Fang's face, and he turned his head toward me.

His hair was being whipped around by the wind, and he looked like he belonged with the background of stormy gray and purple clouds. He was comfortable, leaning back and relaxed even as his wings fought with the wind.

I was stroking my wings up and down even harder than before as the wind pushed me around. They would halt every few seconds as the wind pushed against them, and I would fall a few inches before rising again.

"Leaving? So soon?" He asked, still staring down. My mouth fought itself, trying to talk. I needed to give myself something to do, so I glanced down at the roof of my apartment. Old. Apartment.

Jace was running on the grass, his wings curled around him. He dashed to a run-down house a few blocks down the street and started banging on the door wildly.

"Yeah, the apartment was in ruins," I said, looking over at Fang. He shifted, leaning closer to me. His shirt crinkled up, and I caught just a glimpse of a crimson blood stain before it disappeared again. "Wha-"

"I know," Fang interrupted. "I saw them."

"Who?" I asked, confused. Fang shook his head.

"I'll explain later. Just-come with me." He squinted his eyes, leaning forward and dropping around forty feet. "Um, your brother's bringing company."

I squinted, too, and saw him stuffing a few things in his bag and in his pockets. He ran a few steps and jumped, flying easily to us in the dark. They might have wrecked his day vision, but his night vision was incredible.

Jace growled, glaring at Fang. "What do you want now? Care for another look at our wings?"

Fang shook his head, turning away and beating his wings until he disappeared above the clouds. "Wait! Fang!" I called out, reaching my hand out as if he would come back.

He dropped below the clouds again. "Well, what are you, waiting for the rain to stop? Come on!"

Fang disappeared again. Jace met my eyes and shook his head, knowing what I was going to do. "No, Aly, we can-"

Too late, he protested. I was already gone, trying to catch up with Fang. He was headed south, not even glancing back to make sure I was following. I pulled even with him and saw a little hint of a smile drift over his face before he wiped it away again.

Jace was soon at my other side, as far away as he could get from Fang. He stared pointedly away from him, following my movements instead of looking to Fang for the angles to turn at.

I stared ahead, at the clouds that were starting to thin out, alternating between in front of me and at Fang. I could feel his eyes on me, every once in a while it felt like I had an irritating itch, but it was just him looking back at me.

I bit my lip, wondering what had compelled him to come back and find us. I also wondered why he had a blood stain on his side.

In who knew how long, our lives had gone to wrecks. We didn't have our cozy little home any longer, didn't have any of the nice little comforts, like a warm bed at night.

We didn't have a roof over our heads, and I knew nothing about what our future was going to look like.

All I knew, was that I felt liberated.

Not having to worry about work and rent and days and times, it felt like I was taking a vacation.

A long one.

And it was just like, a backyard vacation, none of that 'let's go Tahiti! Yaaay' stuff. It was more like, 'our house burned down with all of our belongings in it, and now we're being shoved into the wild.'

If that, you know, actually ever happened.

I was so deep in my head, in fact, that I barely heard Fang's cry of pain, but I did see his wings disappearing from my vision.

My head flew automatically to him, in a nosedive. His wings were straight down behind him and he was bent over in a ball, one arm around his gut. I pulled my wings in, angling myself down without a second thought.

My outstretched hands met Fang's back, and I wrapped my arms around him, if only because I had no other clue what to do. I pulled him closer to me, trying not to think about the level of pain he was in.

It was high enough up there that a tear coursed down his face.

I snapped my wings out, sure now that I had a secure hold on him. I grunted with the effort of keeping the two of us aloft.

The dark night sky surrounded us as I lowered myself and Fang to the ground. Below me I could see a sprawling forest, and searched for a clearing, no matter how small.

My scanning eyes found one, and I dropped us down in the shelter of the trees.

"Kill me now," Fang hissed through his clenched jaw. Another tear coursed down his cheek.

Jace landed in a skid beside me, his face showing a hint of concern.

"What's wrong?"

I skimmed my fingers down Fang's arms, trying to ease them away. My fingers slipped off, coated in blood.

"Holy shit," I whispered, my eyes going wide. "Fang! Fang, you gotta let go, you gotta let me see!" My voice was tight and urgent, and I was still trying to pry his arms away.

"Oh my God," Jace murmured, dropping his backpack. He reached in, handing me antiseptic and bandages. "I don't think this'll be enough, Aly."

Fang was dripping sweat now, and with another hiss of pain he loosened his arms. Blood rushed out.

"Goddammit," he whispered, peeling his arms away even farther. His shirt underneath was soaked with blood, and it was rushing down the inside. My breath whooshed out all at once and I told Jace my hurried instructions.

"In my backpack. Left pocket, with the zipper on the front. Open it, take out the scissors. Hand me the sewing kit and the first aid kit out of the middle pocket."

I peeled Fang's shirt up gently, trying hard not to hurt him further. It peeled away with a sickening sound, the inside coated with blood.

I growled under my breath, knowing fully well that I hadn't planned on leaving forever, and doubting either of us had brought water. I pulled sweatshirt off and tore off one of my tank tops, ripping it into strips.

I pressed them to his side one by one, letting them soak up the blood. Fang hissed again, his muscles tensing as I slowly lifted them.

I could see the damage now, all of it. My breath whooshed out again.

"Jesus, Fang," I said under my breath, staring at the shredded skin and muscle. "I can't fix this. You need to go to a hospital."

Fang shook his head tightly, talking through his clenched jaw. "N-no. No hospi-Aagggh!!" He finished with a cry, his hands fisting. Blood surged out.

"Fine. If that's the way you want it, fine," I told him, snapping. I pressed a strip against his side again, and opened the sewing kit. I yanked out a needle, pressing the tip against my finger to test it.

"Jace, go get water. I saw a stream earlier, a couple hundred to the east," I told him, fighting back tears. "Hurry!"

I growled again, knowing that if I didn't do something soon Fang would bleed to death, lying on the ground in a forest. I pulled his head up in my lap, looking down at him. A tear fell off his cheek, and I had to wonder if it was his, or mine.

"Fang, I don't know what I can do for you," I whispered helplessly, pushing my hands down on the main arteries and veins around his shredded gash. He hissed, tilting his head up, and then letting it fall back down on my lap.

"Just…stay," he murmured, crying out in pain again. I felt a hot tear slide off my face.

His dark eyes opened slightly, pain clouding them. They cleared for a second, and then he winced. "Pain…pills?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec," I said, pulling a hand away. The blood started coming faster again and I carefully lifted one of his, pressing it where mine had been. "Press down right there."

I reached into the first aid kit, pulling out a pill bottle. I glanced at the label, and threw it away. I pulled out another one, this time the one I wanted.

"K, Fang. I'm going to give you a few extra, to knock you out," I told him. He nodded, opening his mouth. I dropped them in one by one, counting out the numbers I had to take for pain, and adding the number I had to take for sleep.

"One, two, three," I murmured, letting him swallow them quickly. "Four, five, six, seven."

Fang's eyes opened slightly, looking up at me as he swallowed the last of them. They slipped closed again as he fell back into sleep, his body going slack.

This also meant that his hand fell off. I hurriedly slapped mine over it, keeping it there. His fingers locked with mine tightly, the sticky blood gluing them together.

I stared at his fingers for a few seconds before opening the antiseptic. I dribbled a little out into the wound, checking his face to make sure he was asleep before dumping some more on.

This stuff wasn't little kid, no pain antiseptic. This stuff had more alcohol than it did water, and it hurt like hell. Worse, in fact.

Jace ran up beside me, handing me three bottles filled to the brim with water. I upended one over Fang, watching as the blood started to flow away. I let another fall over him, squeezing it to make it come out faster.

"Shit," we both muttered under our breath. It was worse than I had originally thought. I hurriedly dumped the rest of the water on him, tossing them back to Jace. He raced away to get more.

"Come on, Fang, hold on," I murmured, checking to make sure he at least still _had_ a pulse. It was slow and sluggish, far below the norm for us mutants.

I dumped more of the antiseptic on him, and peeled my hands away. I didn't know whether to sew it up, which was what I would have done earlier, before I saw what a wreck he was, or just bandage it and hope for the best.

Most of the shreds of skin were too thin for a needle and thread, and I dumped my first aid kit out on the moonlit ground beside me.

"Okay, tweezers, tape, Band-Aids," I murmured to myself, sifting through the pile. "Ah, just what I wanted."

I pulled out the tube, twisting it open. I squeezed out globs of it, smearing it over the gash. It was meant for little cuts only, these invisible stitches, but this was an emergency, and called for the whole tube.

After Fang's side was covered with it, I picked up the bandage roll. Better be safe than sorry, and this probably didn't even get close to safe, more like okay. Not even _pretty much._

Jace popped up behind me, handing me the water. I carefully dripped it onto my tank tops strips, mopping up the blood around the invisible stitch gunk. I washed them clean again and laid them over it, pressing down.

I smoothed them out, then pulled the safety pin out of the bandage roll. "Help me prop him up," I told Jace, Pushing Fang up with one arm. Jace obeyed, gritting his teeth as he held Fang upright.

I wrapped him slowly, being sure to make the most out of the bandages. I had to use three rolls to cover it sufficiently, because it stretched from just below his hipbone to a few inches past his ribcage.

"What did he _do_?" Jace asked, his voice awed. He must have gone through a real beating to get it _this_ bad. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I said, wishing for the opposite. "All I know is we have to stay and make sure he heals alright."

"Well, I do," I added, tilting my head to the side as I looked at my brother. He looked away, red hot shame spreading across his face. "I know you want to leave, and you can. I'm staying."

Jace nodded tightly, and I could tell that deep in his mind he was fighting with himself over whether to leave or stay. He stood, walking off into the forest, leaving his backpack behind him.

Either he was trying to be a showoff, saying that he could live in the wilderness without anything, or he left it behind to reassure me that he would be back.

I hoped it was the latter.

I looked down at Fang's face, peaceful in his Tylenol-induced sleep. His fingers found mine and gripped them loosely.

I settled in, knowing this would be a long night. And a long day, too, if I didn't know any better. I pulled my backpack off, keeping it close to me.

I unzipped a pocket, finding another, heavier shirt in it. I draped it over Fang, and found another one to pull on myself. I dug out my book, glancing at the cover.

It was _To Kill A Mockingbird_, by Harper Lee. Another classic. I opened it, reading from around the middle, my favorite part of the book.

Morning came slowly, a few beams of light peeking up over the trees, then shining fully on me. It warmed me, heating me up until the wetness from last night's rain had evaporated.

"You know," Fang's voice startled me, bringing me out of my book-induced trance. He was looking up at me weirdly, a hint of a smile spreading across his face. "You really get into your books. I've been hearing it, the last few chapters."

Embarrassment spread over my face. I felt my cheeks getting hotter by the second and looked away from him, off into the forest without really seeing it.

"Um…sorry," I apologized. A small laugh slipped through Fang's lips. "You could have told me to stop."

Fang shook his head, wincing. He leaned up, tilting over to his good side on one elbow and spitting out blood. "Nah. It was…fine," he finished lamely, falling back into my lap.

He looked up at me, and started trying to sit up. I helped him, pushing him until he was only leaning on me a little. He groaned, clapping his hand to his side.

"Do you get this close to death often?" I asked, my brow wrinkling in concern as I stared at him thoughtfully. Fang shook his head, and his hair caught a light breeze, floating up in little strands.

"I usually try to stay just on the brink." He smiled at me and switched his attention to the makeshift bandage. "I got it that bad?"

I nodded slightly. "I was scared you'd die from blood loss. It looks horrible and sloppy, I know," I said, fluttering my hand in the direction of last night's work. Fang looked up at me, another smile on his face.

"I think you did just fine, given what you had to work with." He pulled his hands away and held them closer to his face, staring at the dried blood thoughtfully. I passed him a water bottle and he carefully drizzled it over his hands, then drained the rest.

I stared at him for a few seconds, knowing what I had to say.

"You need to get to a hospital. That won't hold long," I gestured again to the bandage. Fang shook his head hurriedly. "No. I-"

"We need to get you to one. I know a place we could go, but it's in New York, and we're already somewhere around Virginia. It's the only safe place I know of, but I don't think I can get you there."

"I can deal. I'm probably already half-healed. You should know how fast us avian recombinants heal," he waved his hand toward me, pulling away. He teetered, about to fall down, before landing back on my arm. I looked over at him, pointedly raising my eyebrows.

"One, no I don't. And, two, you need to get to a hospital. Here, let me show you," I said, reaching for the bandage. I half-hoped he would let me peel it off, that way he would start bleeding all over the place again and he'd _really_ have to go to a hospital.

Instead, Fang shied away, blocking me with his arm. He narrowed his eyes at me. "The Flock is close by. I can find them," he said, then turned away. "I _think_," he breathed out, staring off. He raised a hand and pointed at the edge of the clearing.

"Your brother's back. Oooh, he _did_ bring friends."

I glared at Fang and then switched my attention to Jace. He was being followed by rabbits, birds, wolf pups, and a few dogs. Four deer trailed after the other animals, looking shy and scared.

I shook my head, sad. "You don't have to do this every time, you know?" I called out to Jace. Fang's head whipped around to see me. The rabbits grew some courage, hopping closer to us. The birds swooped around in wide circles, just over out heads.

"He does this _often?_" Fang asked, surprised. I nodded. "Whenever he's in the wild. Even at home."

Fang leaned forward, and got up on one hand before falling on me again. He landed across me, pushing my elbows into my stomach. I twisted around, pushing him back up.

I felt my sweatshirt shiver and shake. It meowed, light and lazy, protesting.

"Hey, Kiki," I murmured, unzipping it until she poked her head out. She glanced around blearily, gazing at the animals. A soft gray rabbit hopped up on my lap, it's nose twitching wildly.

They stuck their necks out as far as they could go, until they were nearly touching noses. The rabbit surged forward and Kiki jerked back, falling inside my zipper again. Fang laughed and Kiki poked her head out again, to glare at him.

She saw the rabbit again, closer this time, and jumped, clearing the bunny, my lap, and the circle of other rabbits around us. They proceeded to chase her and Fang cracked up laughing.

"What have you been smoking?" I asked cautiously, afraid it was a symptom of blood loss. Fang shook his head, trying to catch his breath.

"It's just-" He was interrupted by laughter again, and was clutching his side. I stared at him, wondering what was happening. "Nev- never mind," he finished, the laughs dying down.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against my shoulder, enjoying the sun. Jace walked over to us and sat down next to me. "Hello," Fang said. "Sleeping Beauty."

Fang smiled, his eyes opening. He glanced toward me to see my grin. I understood the joke. Sleeping Beauty always had all of the animals tailing her around, and here came Jace, with little blue birds whizzing around his head.

And, ugh, whizzing _on_ him.

Jace brushed them away, frowning at Fang. His eyes were closed again, though, and I thought he was asleep again.

"Fang needs to get into a hospital," I told Jace, under my breath. He stared at me curiously while wolf cubs started playing on his lap. He patted them each softly before pushing them off. They clambered back up, insistent.

"He'll live, won't he?"

"Jace, feel this," I told him, yanking his hand to Fang's side. His eyes widened and he spread his palm further, feeling up and down the bandage. "Yeah. We gotta go _now_."

Jace sighed, standing. The pups slid off his lap, looking up at him sadly. He waved the birds away, and they tugged at his hair one last time before chirping goodbye. He slid a hand down the noses of the deer, petting rabbits before they hopped away.

The wolf cubs stayed at his feet, following him as he walked around, saying goodbye to each of his new friends. He came back to my side, picking up the brown and gray pup unerringly, picking it out of around eight.

They all whimpered, gazing up at him. He knelt, murmuring to each of them about the danger we were in, the danger _they_ would be in if they came. A few chickened out, scampering away.

Four were left, including the brown one. The last ones left were a stone gray, some had slightly darker marks and ears.

"Um, Jace?" I asked, staring at them. He nodded, picking them up and tucking them into his sweatshirt and backpack. "What are you going to do when they grow, you know, _bigger_?"

Jace shrugged. "I figure, we can find homes for them, right? 'Sides, this one's the only one I really want to keep," he said, holding up the brown one. It's wolf eyes glimmered happily at his words.

_They can take care of themselves, and he's big enough for a few gazillion pets_, I thought to myself, staring at him. I finally nodded. "Fine."

I pushed Fang off of me, laying him down gently in the grass. I stared at my backpack, then at Jace. "How are we going to get him there?"

Jace grinned, whipping out his cell phone. He dialed with one hand, walking quickly. "Yeah, we're at…" He told them an address, slinging his pack over one shoulder and picking up Fang's feet. He nodded at me and then his arms, and I obeyed, picking Fang's arms up off the ground. We lifted all at once and then Fang was in the air, dangling between us.

We walked uncoordinatedly to the edge of the forest, and then to a house. It had light blue paint on the outside, and a guy came out, holding a beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and started yelling at us.

"Get off mah ya'd!" He called out at us, and then saw Fang. He dropped his smoke, refusing to let go of the beer. He leaned back, yelling to whoever was inside the house. "Bettay! Call the po-lice! They jus' beat this guy up!"

Jace shook his head, looking at the guy. "We got it covered," he said, showing him his phone. The guy sneered, walking back into his house.

I could hear the distant wail of the sirens, even through my hat. I glanced at Jace, holding one hand to his head. "You sure you want to stay? We still have time to leave, get the heck out of here," I suggested half-heartedly.

We were taking a huge risk, showing Fang to these guys. It could make some real problems for us. Something bad could happen, and Fang could end up in wherever they put mutants.

Jace shook his head. "You might want to take that off of him," he said, pointing at Fang's bandage. I nodded, stooping down. I propped him up, trying now to wake him, and unwound the bandage as fast as I could.

The fake stitches were still halfway goop-ish, and I smeared my sleeve over it, wiping it off carefully. Jace dribbled water from Beer Guy's hose onto Fang, washing the rest off.

The goop was thick and bloody, he was still bleeding, even now. He hadn't been able to heal at all, in fact, it had gotten worse over night.

"Aaagh," Fang said, immediately waking and crunching over, clutching his side. He glanced down at his now un-bandaged side, glaring up at me. He stood, stumbling, hearing the sirens.

"Thought I…told you not to…" He said, his voice cutting. He winced, glaring at me when the ambulance came, and I saw his wings twitch under his shirt. He tried to stand up straight, glaring round at the paramedics.

"I'm…fine," he said through gritted teeth. A blond guy shook his head, seeing the blood spreading across the already-dried patch of blood.

"No, you're not, man. We've got to take you in." They advanced on him, and Fang stumbled back warily. His eyes seemed to move rapidly back and forth.

"M'fine," he said, before his eyes rolled back in his head. I caught him, bending a knee so I didn't have to go all the way to the ground. I hauled him over to where the guys were pulling out a stretcher, and immediately they ignored me, focusing wholly on Fang.

Jace and I watched while the ambulance roared away.

Well, Jace more like _listened_, and I watched. The wolf pups squirmed around him, kept in tight by his zipper. I heard padding feet behind me, and recognized Kiki's familiar paw steps.

She sat by my foot, and went to work on grooming herself, then meowed at me.

"She's right," Jace said, after a few awkward moments. "We should go follow them."

I nodded, looking at my brother. "Will she find her own way?" I asked, and he nodded. "She'll take the cubs, too," he added.

Kiki meowed angrily in protest. Jace stared at her. "You'll take them if you don't want us to leave you here," he hissed through his teeth. Kiki looked away defiantly, puffing out her chest as if to say, 'no.'

Fang toed her belly, pulling the bottom edge of his coat out. The tiny little wolves dropped out, one by one, and went to work sniffing Kiki.

She sat there, ignoring them, giving us her best high-and-mighty act. Jace snorted, turning away. "Let's go."

I unfurled my wings sharply, staring at the cat and the four pups surrounding her. Kiki got the message and trotted away, holding her head high.

"You know, I think it'll weird me out every time you do that," I said to Jace, running a few steps and jumping in the air. I flapped my wings powerfully up and down, gaining altitude quickly. I could soon see the ambulance, and followed it across town.

"Sometimes I weird me out, too," he said, smiling up at me before flying away, following the noise to the hospital. I could see Kiki down on the pavement, running with the pups. She was grinning wildly, and they barked playfully at her every once in a while.

I nodded, knowing the feeling. Sometimes, the whole fuzzy ears and wings thing creeped me out, too.


	3. Chapter 3

Third chappie. Hope you like, read and REVIEW!! PUSH THE PURPLE BUTTON...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

Discalimer: I don't think that's how you spell it, but i'm in a hurry. I cannot claim anything in this besides Aly, Jace, Ira, Derek, or Bobby, because James Patterson has already claimed Max and the rest of the Flock. Poor, poor us, little fanfic writers....

**PART THREE**

We landed on the hospital's roof awkwardly, stuttering a few times before bringing our wings back in. We had left the cat and wolves far behind, reaching the hospital well before they would get close.

Kiki would follow Jace, though, so we were both sure she would get here fine. Our only problem now?

Finding Fang, and seeing what had happened so far.

I ran across the roof, finding the stairs easily. Jace followed, sliding in behind me. We raced down the steps, all eight floors, and into the lobby.

"New guy, just came in the ambulance, bloody all over and has something weird going on?" I asked, skidding to a halt by the front desk. The lady didn't bother looking up, but waved her hand to her left, back the way we had come.

"Fourth door on the right," she said, her voice bored.

I ran down the hall, tugging Jace along with me. We stopped inside the room, staring at the five people surrounding the bed. I could see Fang' dark head peeking out between two people's arms, and heard tears. Suddenly a girl with sun-streaked brown hair wheeled around.

"_You_ did this to him!" She yelled through tears, flowing down her face. Panic filled me, and my mind jumped to the worst. Max took a few steps forward angrily before Iggy grabbed her arm, yanking her back. She buried her face in his shirt, crying her heart out.

The rest turned around, staring at me sadly. They were all crying, and Jace put a hand on Nudge's shoulder before she noticed we were here. Her lip trembled and she followed Max's suit, crying into Jace's chest.

Angel was crying on Gazzy, he was trying to put up a brave front for her, but then broke down in tears.

My mind filled with pain and the panic reached my head, throwing me into overdrive. If he was dead, then there was one thing I could for him. I threw my backpack onto the ground, yanking out my needle. I pricked each finger until the bled, on both hands, and let the blood fall into Fang's mouth. Nobody saw me move, I was that fast. I barely took note of it though, and continued the process.

Fang's face was already turning a little tiny bit pinker. I focused, feeling my blood race through me, and pressed a hand to his chest. I willed his heart to beat, and it started, in tune with mine.

I focused on it, trying to calm my own heart down. If mine was too fast, that would be no good. Jace leaned over, mumbling Nudge's heart rate into my ear, and I picked up the pace.

Getting it perfect was the first step. The next was kick starting all of his systems, and I had to keep my heart beating at the same rate constantly, or else I would fail and have no more chances.

I focused entirely on Fang, hearing only dimly Jace protecting me, shoving Max away.

Slowly, slowly, his heart started to beat on it's own. My hand slipped away, smearing my bloody fingers over his bare chest. The wound in his side started pulsing out blood, and Jace yelled for a doctor.

Fang's eyes opened, meeting mine before I started to fall.

It felt like everything was going in slow motion, the moments dragging out for ever. I heard Fang whisper my name before my eyes slipped closed and my fall ended with my side meeting the floor, shoulder first.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I was swimming in a dark blue sea. I drifted for what felt like years, as the sea water cleared up, turning a brilliant blue again.

I knew this process. It had happened a few times before, when I had had to save Jace from Fang's previous fate. The first time had scared my pants off; my whole body had been on autopilot, and I had no idea what had happened when I woke up, months later.

It took a while. This was true. And my real self right now was in a come-like state, unable to wake but still running itself.

I strengthened over time, enough to peel myself out of the gentle waves.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Aly?" A voice filtered through the muggy darkness I was trying to fight out of. I felt a tear fall onto my arm, and then a slight pressure as somebody pressed their forehead to my arm. Tears dripped down, one after another.

"Please, come back, Aly," another voice said, this one calm. I recognized them. The first was Fang's question, the second was Jace.

I pushed harder, trying to tear through the mist. Jace's voice echoed around me again.

"Fang. She's trying. I can feel it. Just give it another day," he said, shaking Fang roughly. He tilted his forehead, growling at Jace half-heartedly before letting it fall back down again.

"No! I can't just leave!" Fang lifted his head off my arm, and I itched to wipe the tears off my skin. I could hear the despair and anguish in his voice, and the sheer stubbornness in it. "Just…wait a little longer…please?"

I heard Jace's sigh, and his footsteps leaving, down the hall. Angel's voice entered now, talking to Fang. "She'll be here, Fang. Soon," she said, and tugged at him. I felt his head move, and then his hands gripping my arms.

"No, no, Max! Leave me here!"

"Come on, Fang, you haven't eaten in days. You've got to get over her, she's not coming back any time soon," Max hissed, and I heard his feet dragging along the floor.

I moved my mouth, trying to talk. I almost choked on the tubes stuffed down my throat, and flexed my fingers a few times, then peeled them out.

"F-fang?" I murmured, quietly, still trying to get used to talking again. My voice strengthened and I pulled myself up in bed, staring at all of the tubes stuck to me, the machines hooked up to me.

"Fang?" I asked, this time my voice was louder. It hurt my ears and I winced, closing my eyes again against the harsh light. The footsteps stopped, racing back again.

"I thought I heard something!" He yelled as an excuse, getting closer to me by the second.

"You've heard a thousand things!" Max yelled back, her voice cautionary.

I heard the steps halt at the door, and then Fang was pretty much on top of me, touching me, making sure it was really _me_.

"Aly? Aly! Oh my G-" he said, and his voice choked off, unable to say anything more. I sat there, still and silent, for a whole time of about, ehhh, three seconds, before I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I flexed my fingers again and cleared my throat.

"Hello," I managed to mumble, before Fang grabbed my head and kissed me, smack dab in the middle of my forehead. My eyes opened to slits and I heard Jace's voice, far off, a whole three stories above me.

His cry of 'Aly!' met my ears, and I smiled despite myself. He always knew what I was doing, which helped even more in the coma situation.

Fang was pushed off of me, but I clung to his hand as Jace hugged me tightly, crushing me in his chest. I waved my other arm pitifully, trying to get him off of me.

"A'right, a'right," I mumbled into his shirt. "I get it, you miss'd me."

Jace backed away, realizing he was smothering me. I could see the huge grin on his face and happy tears on his face. Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy leaked in, Nudge hugging Jace. _Hmm, they must have _really_ gotten close in the time I'd been away_, I thought to myself.

Iggy came in, ten minutes later, dragging Max behind him. She cast me a half glare, and turned away. Iggy sighed, and began talking to her in a soothing voice.

It was all happy, happy for a half hour, and that whole time Fang was content to stand there, holding my hand and grinning his happiness. I glanced at him every once in a while, smiling every time.

I wasn't met with too many questions; it seemed like Jace had already gone through the whole explanation part. The doctors came in and checked my vitals, talking to Jace to make sure they were alright.

I stifled a yawn, feeling tired despite the sleep I had just gotten. Jace immediately snapped to it, emptying the room. He patted me on the arm, smiling, but he couldn't drag Fang away.

I pulled him closer, telling my brother I'd still be here later. Fang sat down heavily in the chair next to my bed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm so-" I started to say, when Fang started to say, "Jesus, I thought-", and we both broke off at the same time, giggling nervously.

Fang, I guessed, didn't know how to take this. He stared at me, his dark eyes thoughtful. He opened his mouth and I shut mine, letting him talk.

"Why'd you do it?" He asked, his voice sad and concerned. I looked at him, thinking he already knew the answer.

"You were _dead_," I explained, the obvious. "I wasn't going to let you stay that way, if I had anything to say about it."

"So you put yourself into a coma," he said doubtfully, tightening his fingers on mine. I reached to my side, picking up the cup of water and draining it before pulling myself forward to the edge of the bed. I dangled my legs down and tried to regain the strength in my legs before trying to stand.

Falling down immediately was _not_ on my list of 'First Things To Do When Leaving A Coma.' I know it's not on _yours_ either.

I nodded finally. "Yeah, and it was stupid, I know, but it was the only thing I could do, and you were dead, and Max blamed me, and it was all my fault, I should've taken you-" Fang silenced me, squeezing my hand again. He shook his head, letting it drop down.

I stared at him, confused. I thought he was crying, or mad at me, before I realized he was laughing at me.

"You sounded exactly like Nudge there," he said, after regaining his breath. He sighed, and looked at me oddly.

After a few seconds of odd looking I kicked my legs back and forth. "Awkward…"

Fang laughed again at me. "True."

I let my fingers fall loose again and gripped the edge of the bed tightly with my other hand. I tipped myself to the side, trying to get down on my feet.

Fang pushed me back onto the bad with one hand, pressing me down to the sheets. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a second. You're supposed to actually _stay_ in the bed in a hospital, you know that, right?"

I nodded, pushing against his hand. "Just trying to get out of this crappy bed and get me some food," I told him, trying to get him off of me. He frowned.

"You can't leave the room. The machines," he gestured to them, and trailed off awkwardly. I stared at him with my best 'duh' face.

"One, I'll be fine without them, and two, I need _food_," I said, stressing out the last word. My stomach grumbled in agreement and Fang laughed again. I smiled slightly.

God, I loved that sound.

"I know how to fix that, then," he said, an evil glint in his eye.

Ten minutes later, Fang was helping me down the hall. I still had everything attached to me, I was just dragging all of them on extension cords. Nurses glanced at us warily, dragging machines with us, but I guess they knew about our special 'condition', and decided not to argue with us.

Thankfully, the cafeteria was on the same floor as my room, because the cords barely reached the doorway. I leaned in, telling Fang what I wanted.

He came back out, almost half an hour later. I stood carefully, concerned. His face was pale, and his eyes far-off and distant.

"Fang? What's wrong?" I asked, stepping closer to him. He ran a hand through his hair, and looked down at me.

"The FBI," he said, his voice strained. "They're going to take us." He handed me my tray, piled high with macaroni and cheese, muffins, and cookies. I got to it, knowing that food was the first thing I needed, information second.

I wolfed it down, and Fang slid down the wall, stunned. I turned my head so I could look at him, my eyes still barely reaching his shoulder. "And why is that so bad?"

Fang shook his head tightly, pulling his legs up until he could wrap his arms around his knees. He rested his chin on top of them, staring at the wall. I grazed his shoulder with my hand, and he shook his head again, sighing.

He seemed to snap back to reality, his eyes still dark but his expression more easy. He leaned closer to me, his hand falling nervously on mine. I glanced down at it, and smiled, turning my hand over underneath his so he could twist our fingers together. He smiled, his face brightening, and squeezed my fingers lightly.

"I don't know if it's good or bad. Food, shelter, warmth. That's what the Flock needs right now. But there are plenty of things wrong with it."

I nodded, understanding. Fang snuck a fry, popping it in his mouth before I could retrieve it. I slapped his hand playfully, and he growled jokingly. I laughed, and then suddenly stopped, smacking his cheek lightly and losing the grin. He stopped, his face falling.

"What?"

"That offends me!" I kept my face straight for around ten seconds or so, before I grinned, laughing. Fang smiled, laughing along with me, until Max walked in front of us, crossing her arms and glaring down at Fang meaningfully.

"The _Flock_ and I are eating lunch together today," she said, staring at me haughtily. "Without that _other_ mutant freak," she spat, kicking the heart rate monitors and the rest of the mess of machinery before walking into the cafeteria.

I stared at where she had just been, moments ago, my jaw wide. I swiveled my head around to look at Fang, confusion in my eyes. I saw the confusion in his, and thought better of asking a stupid question. He squeezed my hand again before standing, pulling the hospital's tech together. He stooped down, and stuck out a hand for mine.

I took it, letting him pull me to my feet, and stood for a moment, regaining my balance. I grabbed the rest of the machines, tugging the IV along with me. Fang kept my hand in his.

When we got back to the hospital room we unplugged the extension cords, yanking them out and plugging the machines in as fast as we could. I'll admit, Fang was fast. But I was still recovering.

"Excuses, excuses," he said, when I explained to him. Jace already told me how fast you moved when I was 'dead.'"

I humphed, staring at him. "You weren't 'dead'," I made air quotations marks around the word. "You were _dead_." I made a slitting motion across my throat. Fang replied, disbelieving.

"How, exactly, did you know I was dead? What makes me think I should believe this, 'she saved your life' crud?" He said 'she saved your life' with a girly voice, high and whiny, waving his hands back and forth in the air.

"You had no heartbeat," I said, and Fang shook his head no. That wasn't going to cut it for him. I went over my list of explanations, only to have Fang shoot them each down, one by one.

I sighed, knowing I had only one way out of this. Fang grinned, thinking I had given up, but I picked up his hand, placing it so his fingers were over my pulse, and mine were over his. I made out other hands do the same thing, except mine were on top on the left.

I pulled all the machines out of my arms, knowing that they would go haywire once I started all of this. When I did this, my vitals were all over the place. Ira, a new surgeon, and Derek, a new doctor, had found this out when they saw me save Iggy, and became curious about how I did it. That was how they knew now about my wings and ears, and were the bestest friends I had. Excuse me. Only.

I set my hands back in the same position as earlier.

I sucked in a breath, staring at Fang intently. He peered into my eyes, confused. I squeezed my heart, speeding it up to his pace. He cocked an eyebrow, pressing his fingers harder into my pulse.

I could tell he still didn't believe it. I harmonized our hearts, both beating at the same time, and then gently coaxed it down, down, down, to my normal heart rate. His was much faster, and I felt his wrist pulsing slowly but steadily under my fingers.

"Whoa," he whispered, his eyes widening. I brought our hearts back up to speed, keeping his regular pace. I twitched my leg muscle, and saw his twitch. He stared down, watching our muscles twitching, the exact same every time.

I started feeling drained, and my hands slipped from Fang's. My heart slowed to it's own beat, and Fang caught me before I slipped away, pulling me closer to him. His eyes were still wide, and he breathed out in my face.

"Man, that was freaky," he said, looking down at me. He had to tilt his head all the way down to see me, and he gripped my wrists even more tightly. I separated our hands for a moment to take another sip of water, instead draining the whole cup.

Fang snatched my hand again, pulling both of my wrists up to either side of his neck. He leaned in to one of my hands, breathing in deeply, his eyes slipping closed. Soon enough, he was asleep on his feet, and I was standing there awkwardly, my hands up by his neck. I glanced at the clock on the TV. Two in the afternoon. Sheesh. He must have been really stubborn, never sleeping, eating, or leaving my bedside.

I felt my heart swell and frowned at it, mad that it reacted this way. It couldn't pick something more reasonable, like, say, getting angry and throwing things, could it? Noooo. It had to go all mushy gushy on me.

I sighed, and resigned myself to hoping it would drift away.

I carefully nudged Fang, pushing my arms. I didn't want to wake him, but I couldn't stand here all day and night, and neither could he. Especially while asleep.

His eyes slitted open, sleepy and dark. I shook him again, fully awake.

"Wha'?" He asked, staring around him. "I was perfectly fine, sleeping, and you woke me up?"

"Yeah, Fang I-"

"G'night!" He said, a note of finality in his voice. He closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

My eyes widened, and I pulled my hands back. Fang refused to let go, gripping them tighter in his sleep. I yanked them back, jerking, until he opened his eyes again.

"What?" He asked, giving me a sleepy, weak glare. I pointed to the chair behind him, uselessly. He couldn't see my hand by his neck.

"You could at least get to the chair," I told him, pushing him lightly. He nodded, taking a few steps backwards, and sitting in the chair. He wasn't letting go of my hands any time soon, and I jerked them back again.

"Fa-ang," I whined, trying to get him to let me go. I felt a hand on my back, and a sweet, little kid voice sounded out behind me.

"You might as well sit down, he's not thinking about letting you go anytime soon," the voice said, and I twisted around to see Angel. Her curly blond hair shifted, she tipped her whole body sideways to see me better. I was staring into her eyes now.

"What?"

"He's not letting go. You should sit down," she repeated, pushing me towards Fang. I didn't budge, planting my feet against all her six-year old, genetically enhanced, mutant strength.

"What, you can read his mind or something?" I asked, astounded. She nodded, pushing me again.

"If I say yes, will you sit?" I stayed silent. Angel let out a strained breath. "He likes you very, very much, and he was awake the whole time you were out, waiting for you to wake up. He won't let go now because he's afraid you'll be gone when he wakes up, which is irrational, even for Fang. You good now?"

"Um…I…guess…so," I said, my words stumbling over each other while I tried to find something to say to the little girl.

"There isn't, and I'm not _that_ little," she said, putting her hands on her hips defiantly. "Now, sit!"

"I don't know where," I told her, looking at Fang. He was taking up the chair, and the only other place I could find was the floor, which would probably kill my arms later.

"He'll move," she told me, her voice assuring. "Trust me."

I rolled my eyes, giving in. It wasn't like I was _that_ opposed to the idea, either, so I moved to sit on the chair. Fang's eyes opened lazily and he moved, letting me sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck, and closing his eyes again.

He inhaled deeply, a strange thing I had recently found out he did quite often. "Mmm, Aly," he breathed out, his voice a tickle on my skin, and his breaths grew slower.

Angel flipped me the thumbs up, and turned, walking out the door. She poked her head back in, saying "I heard that last one, you know," with an evil grin on her face, and then left.

Heard which one _what_? My brain asked, confused. I sighed, pushing it away.

I had just found out that, strangely, I was sighing often lately, too.

I lay there, stiff for a while, not knowing what to do. My plan was to get up and get the heck out of there when his grip slackened.

"Relax, Aly," he murmured in my ear, letting his arms slacken a little. I pushed away, sure now that they were loose enough, only for him to pull me back in again.

"It's fine," he said, his voice light and lazy. I believed him, relaxing in slow increments, finally leaning back into him.

Fang sighed, nuzzling my neck again, sighing. That strange habit again. I sighed, displaying my strange habit. Again.

He chuckled behind me, the vibrations resounding in myself. "Night, Aly," he said, waiting for me to fall asleep.

I could feel Fang tracing a small pattern on my neck, loose and winding. I relaxed even more, falling farther in to sleep.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Fang shook me gently, ruffling my hair. I stirred, moving around in his arms. I turned, facing him, and stretched my arms tiredly. He grinned, taking a breath, and huffed it out on me. I sneezed.

He laughed. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," he said, shaking me again. I yawned, tilting my head up to see the clock.

I groaned, getting ready to wake up fully. Breakfast time was getting closer and closer.

"Can't I just sleep a little, _teensy_ bit longer?" I asked, pinching my fingers together to show how much. I heard laughs behind me and tilted my head back. Jace, Nudge, and Gazzy were all standing there, muffling their laughter in their sleeves. They saw me glare at them and let their arms drop, laughing out loud.

I growled lightly, pushing my hands on Fang's chest. "You coulda told me earlier," I mumbled, feeling the blush spread across my cheeks, caught by my own brother with Fang.

Even though we had just been sleeping, it was weird nonetheless. Fang grinned and I pushed my face into his chest, trying not to let them see my blush. They howled with laughter, and Fang waved his arm behind me, waving them away.

"Fine, but if we come later and see you-" Jace started to say, but ended up cutting himself off, laughing again. They filtered out, each one of them laughing till I couldn't see how they were still standing.

"Psh," I muttered, leaning back into Fang. He tightened his arms around me, and pressed his lips to my head. I wriggled my arms around him for just a second, feeling extremely comfortable and relaxed as I was.

I felt no need to change that.

"Fang?" I asked, peering up at him. He tilted his head down to see my face. "How long were they in here before I woke up?"

"Err," he mumbled, looking away. "Urr, around, maybe anywhere between fifty-nine minutes and an hour and a minute….?"

My jaw dropped. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" They had seen me sleeping with Fang, and probably, oh, no…

_Drooling_ on him!

I quickly glanced down at Fang's shirt, making sure there weren't any drool puddles. I sighed in relief, realizing his shirt was perfectly clean, besides the Extreme Wrinkling Competition going on.

I rested my head on Fang's shoulder as he patted me, a little awkwardly.

"Breakfast will be over soon, and I haven't eaten for a week and a half," he muttered pointedly, and I tumbled out of his arms, landing on the floor. No point in denying my man food!

Wait…did I just refer to him as 'my man'? I shook my head, trying to get these thoughts out of my head. Not the best thing for my mind to be on.

"Sorry!" I told him, pulling him up from the chair. He tangled our fingers together and walked me down the hall. "Wait," I said, and turned to rip off the sticker on the door. It stated my name, status, and conditions. Excepting the whole wing, kitty ear thing.

"Okay, ready," I said, and tossed the sticker in a trash can. I swung my arm back and forward, forcing Fang to move his, too. He grinned, and led me to the sweet scent of pancakes, ham, and eggs.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I cackled in delight, setting my plate down on the table and getting to work. Fang ate even faster than me, heading off for seconds.

"Guess they downgraded their boyfriend/girlfriend status," I heard Nudge whisper behind me. She sat down across the table, Jace trailing his fingers along her arm to keep track of her. He sat, across the table from Fang's seat.

I smiled to myself as Nudge's fingers found Jace's, keeping her eyes on me the whole time. Nudge cast a questioning glance my way, but I just shook my head and continued eating.

"So, you guys friends now?" I asked, laughing inside as they both turned cherry red. Nudge dropped Jace's hand and his fingers curled together reluctantly. "No, no, it's cool."

Nudge nodded uncertainly, putting her hands together and sticking them in between her legs so she wouldn't grab Jace's hand again. He sighed, and she leaned into him instead.

"Well, I see you and Fang are getting along," she said, cocking an eyebrow and looking above me. I tilted my head back to see Fang sticking his tongue out. He saw me looking at him and quickly reeled it back in, an 'uh-oh' look on his face.

He shook his head hurriedly, glaring at Nudge. "She was really sleepy, we were talking, and she fell asleep," he said, sitting down.

"Didn't look like that to me-e," said Nudge, in a doubtful, mocking voice. I put my fork down.

"Why do you jump to the worst conclusion?" I asked, staring over the table at Nudge. Fang waved his hand. His look to me said, _I have this_.

I let him work his magic. Bad magic, it was.

"Why is this your business at all?" He asked, waving his hand at her. "What's going on between Aly and I has nothing to do with you!"

Nudge gritted her teeth. "_Yes,_ it _does_! She's stuck with us, no matter what, thanks to _your_ big fat mouth!" She slammed her hands down on the table, enraged, and stood up, stalking out the door, leaving Jace alone with us.

"I'm sorry," he muttered finally, standing up and following her echoes. "Nudge, wait!"

I looked over at Fang, finishing up my food. "What'd she mean?"

Fang tried to act dumb. "Mean by what?"

"That you guys are stuck with me…I don't get it. What did you say?" I looked up at him, feeling all of a sudden defensive.

"I said…I said I wasn't going to leave you, back when you were totally out of it. The FBI wanted to take us then, but I wasn't going to leave, and the Flock refused to leave me. We've been living in the hospital for weeks now."

I stared out, biting my lip. Fang looked at me in the awkward silence, then gave up. He stood, picking his tray up and dumping it.

"So why didn't you leave me?" I whispered, to thin air. Fang had gone. I could hear his footsteps coming up behind me again.

"What?" He asked, sitting down again. He picked up my hand, tracing the lines on my palm. I shook him off of me, clearing my choked throat.

"So why didn't you leave me? The Flock is more important…you should have left while you could."

Fang stared at me oddly. "I wasn't going to leave you. I thought you had killed yourself, saving me! _Me_ of all people! I could be dead right now, if it weren't for you!"

I shook my head. It hadn't been my choice. I'd seen people who had just died, and each time Jace, Derek, Robby, and Ira had ended up holding me back, tying me down. And I still escaped each time, bringing the person back to life. I hadn't even known who the heck Janet Baez had been, I just knew that I had spent four weeks recovering after saving her, and she never knew.

There were others, too. People I couldn't even _remember_. I used to accompany Derek and Ira on difficult surgeries, as insurance to save their patients lives. Only on cancer and brain patients, though. They only used me in the worst scenario, since they didn't know the effects of my power on my body yet.

I stared down at my hands, then up. Fang was gone. I looked around at the dark, empty cafeteria, and realized that I had spent the last few hours just sitting here, staring at the wall.

I stood, stretching my legs out. The room I had been in previously now had an actual coma-patient in it, and I walked in the room, staring at their bed.

The name said _Lulu Banks_. She had wispy blond hair, her face sweet even in her coma. Seven years old. Jesus. I shook my head, willing myself not to touch her.

Her parents, behind me, were sound asleep. Her father and mother were holding each other in the chair I had just slept in, with Fang. They looked so tired, and so drained…

I stared again at the girl. _Lulu_. I walked to her bedside, my hand reaching out irresistibly. I touched her arm, letting my finger drift over it, and then placed it over her neck, feeling the tiny _bu-bump_s, and looked at the tubes and machines.

I pressed my hand to her chest, feeling power overflow me, spilling out into her. I staggered backward from the force, hearing her heartbeat race out of control, then calm down slowly.

"Lulu!" The mother, waking said. She pulled the girl's father to his feet, springing to Lulu's side. Her eyes were starting to open, inch by inch, and I looked at the deep green shade, before turning and running out the door, knocking a broom over on my way out.

"Wait, lady!" I heard the father exclaim behind me, and then nurses and doctors rushed to the room. I ran away, as fast as I could.

Right into the black-suited arms of an agent. My heart fell, slowing dramatically as I stared up at his face. It was hard, cold, like steel. His eyes glinted evilly, and he grinned, his teeth showing.

As I stared up at him, his teeth elongated, his nails growing out. Fur sprouted, and I fell away in surprise.

"Oh no, you don't," he growled, his voice deep and scratchy. He caught me by the neck and panic filled me as I saw others heading my way.

I turned, reaching up and grabbing his hand. I flipped it backwards and he cried out in pain. It all happened in less than a few seconds, and even I was surprised.

"Aly!" I heard Fang's voice, from down the hall. There were several of the weirdos between us, and I started toward him, seeing his desperation and hearing the fear.

I rushed towards him, kicking the first two guys down in half a minute. Fang was still on the first, lacking the modified speed gene planted in my DNA. The third guy growled, grabbing my arm and yanking it around behind my back while I stared at Fang.

I winced, bending under the force. I kept bending as he kept yanking, and finally let out a whimper of pain. "Let…go!"

"Sorry, babe," he growled in my ear. "You're staying here. _With me_."

I saw the look in his eyes as he bent to look at me, his grin evil. Hair was all over his face and he was having trouble talking clearly, what with the doggie muzzle and all.

"NO!!" Fang yelled out, and I heard a grunt. He kept yelling, hitting his guy over and over.

I hissed again in pain as the guy put his hands on my neck, squeezing, and pushing down on my spine. My back arched and I tried to use it, snap up, and hit him, but he still had my arm.

"Errgh," I let out, bending to my knees as he twisted my arm even harder. I threw back my head, yelling out my pain.

Fang rushed to me, I heard his loud footsteps coming closer. "GET OFF OF HER!"

I was released and I straightened up, rubbing my shoulder sorely. Fang was pummeling the guy, blood on his knuckles. I ran to him, stopping his hands and staring up at him.

His hard eyes immediately softened. "Fang, we have to leave!" I told him, pulling him. The other guys were closing in on us, their faces mad as hell. They stalked toward us, looking like they wanted to eat us.

"Come on!" I tugged Fang again, running to the stairwell. Just as Fang landed behind me I saw the dark, huge shadows coming up to meet us, and shoved him back. "Wrong way! Wrong way!"

Fang turned, grabbing my hand. He dragged me to an open door, pushing me towards the window. He kicked the glass, knocking it all out, and showed me the hole. I shoved myself through it, falling stories before snapping my wings out and rushing up.

I met Fang, hovering outside the broken window. He glanced at me, his dark wings moving up and down powerfully, before waving for me to follow, and flying off.

I followed him, trusting him with every fiber of my being.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I watched as Fang landed below me, and pulled my wings in. I smiled to myself, enjoying the wind rushing through my hair, tangling it in big messes. I snapped them out with not a second to spare, stopping just a few feet above the ground.

Fang looked at me, grabbing my hand and pulling me close to him. He pushed my head into his chest, breathing as if he'd just run a marathon. I twisted my face to the side so I could breathe.

We stood there, Fang with his cheek smooshed to the top of my head, and me pressed close against him, before I threw my arms around his neck. His grip slackened, shocked, then tightened again.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Aly," he whispered, then pulled back, holding the sides of my face and peering into my eyes. "Are you okay?"

I stretched, trying to keep my arms around his neck, and shook my head. "No. Not a scratch," I told him, and he pulled me close again.

Fang brushed a hand through my hair, stressed. He breathed in deeply, his lungs rattling under my ear.

"Why'd you come back, Fang?" I asked, tilting my head back so I could see his face. It was tense, and afraid. "Why didn't you just leave me…"

"Because I couldn't have lived with myself if I had just left you there," he said, turning his face away. "Because I couldn't live at all," he muttered to himself, looking off into the distance. I tightened my arms around him, and he paused, then pressed his lips to the top of my head, pulling away.

"Where to now?" I asked, staring around me. We were in the back of someone's very large backyard. Fang shook his head.

"Nowhere. Right here," he told me, his head swiveling around, taking in all of our surroundings.

"Here?" I asked again, pointing at the grass below me. Fang nodded, letting me go. I kept a hand on him nervously and he let his hand fall onto my waist, pulling me to him and kissing the top of my head again.

"Fang!" A childish voice screamed out above me, and I glanced up to see a dark spot with wings getting closer. Fang's arm dropped from me and he picked Angel up, swinging her around in a circle. Gazzy, Max, and Iggy were close behind, greeting Fang.

"And who is this we have here?" Iggy asked, gesturing to me. I came closer to him, holding out a hand.

"Aly," Fang told him, and Iggy nodded, coming forward to hug me. I stiffened at the touch, still not knowing him, but then relaxed.

"Screwing my brother, are you?" He whispered in my ear, and I could hear the grin in his voice. He sniffed my neck again, then backed off.

Angel's weight was thrown into me, making my knees buckle. I almost fell, but she kept me up, hugging me tightly. I picked her up, like Fang, and gave her a real hug. When I set her down she stayed attached to me, holding my hand in a death grip.

Fang smiled oddly at me and then Max stepped up to him, ignoring me. Iggy stared after, glanced at me, at Fang, and shook his head. Gazzy was still standing awkwardly, with no clue what to do right now. He tapped on Iggy's hand and he nodded, and turned, gesturing with his hand that we should come with.

"Your brother's here," he told me, and I felt my fingers clench unconsciously. "He and Nudge are…" he coughed and 'looked' down at Gazzy. He stared up at me, a grin on his face, and told me their status.

"I'm pretty sure they think they're dating," he said, trying hard to keep his face straight. He broke down giggling anyway and I frowned at Iggy.

"Why is that so funny?"

"It's funny, because I think they're past all of the dating thing," he said, and laughed as well. I frowned even more.

"You mean they…" Both mine and Iggy's faces looked horrified that I would suggest it. He shook his head quickly.

"No. No, no, no, no," he said, waving his hand as if that would exaggerate his no's further. He whispered in my ear. "I'll explain later."

I stared at him, my mind saying they did 'it', my common sense telling me Jace had enough manners _not_ to do it, and wondering _exactly_ how close they had become.

A big house rose in front of me, with at least two stories. It looked like something from a classis movie, like _Gone With The Wind_. Angel glanced up at me, swinging our hands together, and smiled.

"That's what Nudge thought, too!"

I heard it, and I could barely understand it because my head was spinning out of control. I saw something that looked like Jace coming towards us, with a girl at his side. I barely noted how close they were, before I choked on a breath and I started to fall.

This one was in slow motion, too, with everybody saying my name and reaching out for me and everything. My eyes slipped closed and then I could hear nothing.

Nothing but my heart pounding in my ears as if I had just ran a marathon in a minute. I couldn't feel anything, and I certainly couldn't feel my _body_.

I was scared.

Nothing was breaking through to me except for the fear and the scaredness. I tried reaching out, and found that I couldn't move my arms. I tried to move my lips, my lungs, and talk, but it felt like I was connected to a big bubble of empty air, hardly keeping me alive.

I heard a distant voice break in to me. It sounded like… _Fang_. He sounded desperate, and mad, and more scared than ever. I felt a wave of fear knock into me, hitting me down. I struggled to stand again, feeling my legs again.

I knew everything was there, it was just so _numb_, like I had been pressed on by a two-ton iron, and then left to die.

I stumbled to my feet, pushing myself forward. I heard Fang's voice louder this time, and maybe even more scared. I pushed harder, taking a few stumbling steps before the wave of fear hit me again, making me take a few more steps back.

I tried to push myself even farther forward, so the wave wouldn't hit me too far back, but I was shoved with a wave of anger, back to my starting point. I gritted my teeth, reaching out, and thought only of Fang, and how scared he must be. How scared _I_ was.

I got a few feet forward, and then I saw the wave coming again. It was huge, fear, pain, desperation, anger, and tears all jumbled up inside. It hit me, pushing me down to the ground and keeping me there as I silently choked on the water.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I felt my eyes slip open. Not in reality, but this crazy wave-world I was in. I could see a little more, the darkness wasn't as heavy, and that was enough for me to see exactly how far I was from the image of Fang.

"Oh, my God," I gasped, at the distance. I couldn't hear him anymore, it seemed like when I was 'asleep' the waves had pushed me even farther back again. I could see them now, tiny ones, barely tickling my feet.

I took a slow step forward, getting the hang of it already, this weird place and the crazy terrain, the obstacles in my way. I took another step forward, feeling my toes slip into the sand.

The next step was faster, the one after that even more. I was soon running, my feet light and quick, and getting closer to Fang. My breath came hard and fast as I reached out to touch him.

And stopped dead, before I was even a foot away from the image. I stared at it, and felt a tear roll down my face.

_This_ was why the waves had stopped coming so hard. _This_ was why I _still_ couldn't hear him.

My breath whooshed out of me as I saw him, sitting tensely, Max being comforted by Iggy, Angel was crying, her brother holding her, and Nudge was trying to comfort Jace.

_Fang had_ no one _there_.

His hands kept curling in fists as he stared off into the distance, trying to touch the person that wasn't there anymore. Angel crawled up in his lap and wiped a tear away, dragging his arms around her.

He stared off, and then a sharp, glistening tear fell out of hi eyes, down and sliding off his cheek. He took in a ragged breath and buried his face in Angel's hair, crying. I felt a wave hit me; the pain was coming again.

I felt my heart tear and reached towards the image, shoving a finger through, and then my hand.

"I'm coming, Fang, I'm coming," I whispered, under my breath. "Just hold on, keep a hold on me," I muttered. I felt a hand in mine, tough, like Fang's. It gripped me and I pulled myself forward, pushing myself through the barrier and readying myself for what was there.

Which- was nothing like the image. Fang was tightly gripping my hand, I could tell, and I was in a bed again. I could hear his light breathing, and I squeezed his hand, my eyes cracking open.

Fang's breath caught. I tugged on his hand harder, and then he was hugging me, wrapping me in his arms. My eyes flew wide open and I clung to him, feeling his shudder and the wet tear fall on me. My own tears fell onto him, dripping down.

"I'm so sorry," I gasped, burying my face in Fang's neck. He straightened up, getting onto the bed. I felt it creak below me, shifting with the weight, and then he was holding me carefully, comfortingly.

"I- I thought you were gone again," he said, his voice cracking. He sucked in another breath. "Aly…"

I pulled away from his neck, tightening my arms around him. His hand slid up to hold either side of my face, and he tipped his forehead to rest on mine. I stared into his dark eyes, his thumbs lightly brushing away the tears, and saw the huge grin on his face. He let out a half-laugh.

"Don't ever, ever do that again, promise?" He asked, breathing hard again. I nodded roughly, tilting my head, and kissed his lips. Electric shocks zinged through me, from my lips to my fingers, and I slung my arms around his neck, pressing him closer to me.

Fang pulled away, catching his breath again, and a tear rolled off his cheek. His hands slid down from my face to wrap around me again, and I buried my head in his chest.

"Never, ever, for as long as I live," I told him breathlessly, my arms dropping to my side. He threaded one of his fingers with mine, holding our hands up to his cheek, and pressing my palm to him.

"Promise?"

"Promise," I agreed, wrapping him in another hug, as if my life depended on it. I clung tightly, and didn't hear the footsteps until they stopped right next to the bed, and their weight settled onto the bed, hugging me from behind. _Angel_.

"It's fine, Aly," she whispered, her voice low in my ear. Fang didn't move. I suspected that he didn't know she was there, especially by the slow rise and fall of his chest.

"Everything you worried about doesn't need to happen anymore," she continued, her arms falling. I separated myself from Fang, letting him fall to the bed. I turned slightly, giving the little girl my best questioning glance.

"Your," she pointed to her head. "Told me," she finished, with an odd smile at me. She waved, slipping off the bed. "You've been out a while, and Fang thought- I'll make sure nobody bugs you."

I smiled at her as she left the room again, closing the door behind her. I glanced out the window at the darkening night, and down at Fang. He looked tired, as if he still hadn't caught up on my last little trip to la-la-land. He was frowning, his fingers gripping like in the image I had seen. I settled myself next to him, and his fingers, now around me, stopped gripping.

_Man, that kid is creepy_, I thought to myself. _But she knows exactly what to do_.

Probably because of the earlier stated creepy factor. I stared up at Fang, pulling his fingers to mine, and felt our fingers curl together. They fell back down, in between us, and a smile drifted onto his face.

I felt another tear fall as I thought about how worried he must have been. Scared, mad, and desperate. I pressed my eyes into my shoulder and pressed myself closer to him. He held me, my arm twisting because he wasn't going to let go. It was fine, though. As long as I was here, with him, everything was going to be alright.

Relief flooded me, tiredness pummeling me until my breath slowed. The room got slowly darker as I drifted into sleep, warm next to Fang.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I heard a voice in my sleep, and a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me. "Oh, forget it," the voice mumbled. "I'll try again later."

I made my mouth move. "Jace?"

I turned in Fang's arms, not wanting to leave them. I saw Jace, blind as ever, but still grinning. I glanced out the window, the darkness totally complete. It wasn't fading anytime soon.

"Around midnight," he said, coming closer again. I slipped out of Fang's arms, unwrapping our fingers. His hand slid down my arm to the bed, not willing to let me go. I touched his hand gently, letting him know I was still here, and muttered to Jace.

"I'm-" was all I got out before he wrapped me in a bear hug. I stood awkwardly, then hugged him back.

"I should be the one saying sorry," he mumbled, his tone apologizing. "I should've been more worried, and then _he's_ losing sleep over you…"

"_He_ has good reason," I told my brother. "You're used to _this_ happening. He's- he…" I let the sentence drift off.

Jace arms tightened again before he stepped back, shaking his head. He placed a hand on my head, ruffling my hair, and I heard Fang slowly waking behind me. "I was too wrapped up in myself and Nudge," he told me, staring at me. "I _was_ worried, it just…drifted away."

"You were happy. You knew what was happening. There was nothing wrong with it," I corrected him. His eyes met mine briefly before he tipped his head up at Fang.

"Hey, man."

"Yo," Fang said, tiredly. "Let me sleep. If you're gonna talk, talk somewhere else." I twisted around to see his sleepy glare, and his wide yawn. His dark eyes met mine and Jace hugged me again before backing off with a sigh.

I watched him go, then focused my own glare at Fang. He sighed, falling back to the bed. I looked at him awkwardly, and he patted the bed next to him. I stared at it; there wasn't enough room with him on his back, even if I laid half on top-

I growled. Fang sighed again, muttering, "Fine, then. Don't sleep on the bed." I glanced around at the mostly empty room, and then my eyes found the window seat.

I walked to Fang and he smiled, thinking I was going to sit on the bed. I made it to the foot of the bed, though, and dragged a blanket out from under him.

The window seat looked none too comfortable, but I dropped the blanket on it and sat on top, curling myself into a ball. I stared out at the yard, lit brightly close to the house, but the lights weren't strong enough to cover the whole yard from the house edge to the edge of the forest.

I looked up at the stars, shining brightly down at me, and relaxed. The seat _was_ pretty hard, covered only with wood, but the blanket eased some of that up.

"Aly?" Fang's voice drifted over to me. I pulled the edges of the blanket up around me, and turned my head to look at him. He was sitting up in the bed, looking at me.

"Mmhmm?"

Fang opened and shut his mouth, and I grew tired of waiting for him to say something. I turned my head back around, staring up at the stars again.

A hand touched my shoulder lightly, and I shivered, turning toward Fang. He was standing next to me, holding his own blanket and looking at me like a little kid that just had a bad dream.

I sighed, scooting forward. The blanket dropped from around me, falling back to hang off the seat. I went to pick it back up but Fang grabbed my hand, holding it as he straightened it out, then settled in behind me. His warm hands were on my arms and I settled back against him.

"Fang…" I whispered, and he let his head fall onto my shoulder. He draped the blanket around us, pulling me closer to him. I curled back up into my little ball, resigning myself to a night on his lap.

Fang twisted me around until I had my back to the room, my head on his chest. I stared out at the dark, moonlit night as he threaded his fingers through my hair. "Yeah?"

I sighed again, that new habit showing up. _Again. _My breathing slowed as I listened to his heart, beating under his thin shirt. He let his arm fall around me and brought his other one to mine, holding it lightly.

I brought my eyes back from the dark sky to look into his dark eyes, feeling my eyes flutter closed. I pulled my head up from his chest, kissing him lightly, before letting it fall back to his chest.

This time, it was Fang who sighed. He detangled our fingers, wrapping the other arm around me, too. I relaxed in his arms, wrapping mine around him. He rested his head on top of mine, and kissed it. I floated off into sleep again.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Light shined into my eyes, pretty much blinding me. I turned my face into Fang, keeping them tightly closed. Fang was still asleep, his arm loose. The blanket had slid to the floor in a crumpled heap, and Fang's head was still on me. I shook him lightly, trying to get him awake enough to let me slip off his lap, but still let him sleep.

he cracked his eyes open. "Wha'?" He mumbled through the sleep, and I had to keep in a laugh at how cute and kiddish he was when he was just waking up.

I uncurled my arms from around him, pushing his long-ish hair away from his face. "Hungry," I told him shortly. He nodded, keeping his arms around me. He turned his whole body, starting to stand. I let out a tiny shriek, dropping my legs to catch me before I fell. Fang grinned, waking up fully.

He took my hands, pressing his lips to the top of my head again, and then his lips found mine, for just a moment before pulling away. His hands squeezed mine and then he dropped them, leading me to the door. He pulled it open, and I was hit with the scent of eggs, and bacon, and _mmm, breakfast_. I stepped out into the hall, breathing in deeply.

My stomach grumbled and Fang caught my eye, a laughing smile on his face.

And we raced to the source of the smell.

I flew down the hallway next to Fang, both of us equally silent. He grinned at me, pulling ahead, and I frowned, stepping it up a notch to beat him to the stairs. Fang jumped on the banister, sliding down fast, and I cursed him under my breath.

I jumped on, sliding down with my feet on it, instead of sitting. I leaned back, crouching down, and met Fang again. He stared at me, ready to move away from my feet. I grinned, stepping over him and continuing my slide, jumping off to land lightly in half a crouch on the bottom floor.

The smell beckoned and I followed, landing in the kitchen before Fang was even off the banister. He glared at me as I scooped up most of the contents of the pot; someone had cooked everything and thrown it together.

I put the whole mess onto my plate, picking up a fork, and smiled evilly as Fang started searching the kitchen for anything else to eat.

Every time he looked my way he growled, ignoring the Flock, sitting around the table. Iggy was leaning on the counter, Max close enough that they were holding hands.

Jace was as close to Nudge as he could get, without dragging her up into his lap, and Angel and Gazzy were sitting across the table, patting their stomachs contentedly.

I settled down into the chair next to Angel and watched as Fang stormed around looking for food. I had to stifle a laugh as he finally grabbed a whole box of Pop Tarts, sitting next to Gazzy. He started in, unwrapping his first package and wolfing it down.

Gazzy's hand snuck in to steal a package, but Fang slapped his hand and continued eating. A wounded look fell onto Gazzy's face and both Angel and I laughed. He reached again and got his hand slapped even harder.

The hand-slapping had caught Max's attention, and she saw Gazzy giving her a pout-face. She pushed the box to him and he quickly snatched a package before Fang could slap him again.

Fang glared at Max for a whole of two seconds before snatching the box and pulling it into his lap. He hunched over it like he was a hobo and this was his first half-real meal in months. And it was true, I told myself, feeling bad again for putting Fang through it all not once, but twice.

I shook my head at myself. _You should know better by now_, I told myself, before Max caught my eye. She seemed to know what I was thinking and stared at my face, like an explorer charting terrain. I looked at her, confused, before she shook her head slowly and switched her attention back to Iggy, talking to him under her breath.

I stared around at the kitchen, making a chart of my own as my hunger died down. I sat back, scraped the rest of the food into my mouth, and put the plate down on the table. Nudge and Jace were holding each other, their heads tilted together.

_They look like a pretty damn cute couple_, I realized. He was protective, she was being careful not to hurt him. She watched out for him, making sure he didn't accidentally grab the wrong things.

Jace had more than the most perfect night-vision, but during the day he was total crap, adding in the transition from 'I can see everything' to 'I can't see shit.' His sight was better than Iggy's would be at night, but he was a worse blind person during the day.

I felt Fang's knee pressed to mine, and smiled at him. He was looking at me, concerned, and I saw that his box of Pop Tarts was empty. He had crumpled it up, squeezing it into a tiny ball, golf ball-sized. Fang cocked his head, and then nodded at Max. He nodded at the door.

I nodded back, understanding what he was saying. He stood, scratching his chair back, and tapped Max on the shoulder, continuing out the door. Max followed, Iggy staying behind. He sat in Fang's empty chair, then leaned in toward me.

"What is it?" I asked bluntly. Nudge and Jace pulled away from their little almost-snog fest to glance at me. Well, Jace not so much.

"This house," I continued. They still stared at me, not knowing. Angel nodded, and sat higher in her chair.

"There's something wrong with it," she told them, catching their interest. "We," she nodded at me, "think that we should leave, before we find out exactly what it is."

Angel looked pretty royal, sitting there with everybody's attention focused on her. She folded her hands and put them on the table, staring round at us.

"There's nothing wrong with it," Iggy said, blowing it off. Nudge took his side adding an "I don't see any problems with it."

Jace took my side, along with Angel. "There's a bad feel to this place, something that I'd rather not mess with."

"It's a _house_," Gazzy said. "There can't be anything _bad_ about a _house_!"

The score stood. Evil House Believers- three. House Is Good Believers- three. Angel's gaze turned grave.

"I know most of you guys can't feel it, but _I_ can, and it's none too good at all," she told them, frowning. Jace nodded his agreement, and Nudge dropped his hand.

"A house is just a house!" Nudge argued. "There can't be anything _evil_ about an inanimate object!"

"The house is great," Iggy agreed. "I can't see what's wrong with it." Gazzy shook his head, his flop of hair wiggling.

"You can't see at all," he reminded Iggy. Iggy grimaced. "Don't remind me."

"Okay, tell me what each of you guys can do," I said, pushing my food away. They rattled off their list.

"The problem is, none of you besides Angel have psychic powers," I told them. "We have broader mind functions, and so we _feel_ more."

"What, you guys can do the mind-thingy too?" Iggy asked, gesturing to me and Jace. Nudge shook her head.

"They don't. They have this weird…whatyoucallit…"

"The scientists tweaked our DNA more than yours. We were test tube babies from the start, which meant they had more time, and more of a chance, at modifying our genes and telling us how to do things. Originally, we didn't have any DNA in common," I said, pointing from myself to Jace. "But they did something great with me, so they cut off part of it and…" I searched for a word to describe it.

"Sewed it onto me," Jace finished. Angel cocked her head, thinking.

"What part?" Iggy asked, leaning forward again.

"The feline DNA part," Angel said, then glanced up at me. "Right?" I nodded, picking up her teeny little hand and putting it on the table.

"Put your hands on the table, palm up," I told them, and watched as they all laid their hands on the table. Jace put his down, and I laid mine down next to his.

"At first, all we had were the _ear_ part of the feline DNA. But then, they grafted _this_ onto me." I gritted my teeth, readying myself for the pain, and clenched my secondary set of muscles. I felt my skin start splitting, the muscle tearing underneath.

"We have two sets of muscles, everywhere," Jace told them, and I could see him flexing his own fingers, getting ready, too, for what he was going to have to do. "The first, is the same you have, kind of like a bird's. The second is more like a cat's, the muscles are smaller and at our joints. They let us do this."

I gripped my arm, gritting my teeth to keep myself from letting out the scream I wanted to let out. I saw blood well up at the tips of my fingers and Jace quickly grabbed rags, stuffing some under my arms and keeping some for himself.

He started the process, biting his lip. The urge to scream was bigger in him; they hadn't copied it too well onto him. I continued talking, stopping every once in a while.

"When they…took the sequence from me… they ended up tearing …some of my own, natural…sequences and sticking them onto Jace…This is why…we call ourselves… _twins_," I finished finally, letting my breath out in a tight hiss as the top layer of skin broke, the points coming out. I pressed a rag to each hand, careful of the tips.

"You have _claws_?!" Nudge practically yelled, just as Jace let out a moan. He bit his lip again and managed to say, "Gag me," before opening his mouth wide. Iggy stood, swiftly wrapping rags around Jace's mouth, just in time for Jace to let out a horror-movie worthy scream. Even better, this was our own horror, which made the scream even more authentic.

Nudge cringed as the sound met her ears, and I almost passed out, my ears hurt so much. Tied into the deep notes of it were high, shrill ones, ones that only me, Jace, and dogs would be able to pick up. No, not cats. The scientists had gone all-out, enhancing them with more nerves than in your whole body put together and more sound receptors than in ten cats' ears, with a few humans thrown in.

So, yeah, I was on the brink of passing out. As I felt myself slipping from the chair, I couldn't throw out a hand to catch myself for fear of the claws catching on something, which would hurt even more. Strong, steady hands grabbed me, pulling me back up to my feet. The hands pressed to my head, feeling all over, and then the person gasped, seeing my hand.

I recognized the hands as Fang's, the gasp as Max's. Another gasp echoed theirs, unfamiliar, and my eyes snapped open. In the doorway stood a skinny, slightly short, blond lady. Her hands were pressed to her mouth, and she looked like she was about to faint. I nodded towards her.

"Catch her," I mumbled, and dimly saw Iggy catch her before she met the ground, and drag her to the living room. There was a thump, probably him throwing her on a couch or something else like that.

"Oh my God, Aly, what happened to you?" Came Fang's voice, as fog started covering me. I saw his hands peeling away the blood soaked rags, drops already falling on the floor. "What a _shit_load of blood," he muttered. I pulled my arms away from his.

"No, don't," I managed to say sluggishly, and started pulling my claws back in, to keep the blood loss to a minimum.

"Don't!" Iggy shouted, coming back and hearing the rag being pulled away wetly. "Don't pull them back in! If you keep them out, they'll stem the blood flow, and you won't _die_ from blood loss!"

I obeyed, keeping them straight out. I opened my eyes, and found the corner of a cabinet next to my head. I half twisted, half stumbled out of Fang's arms, and he followed me, ready to catch me at any second.

I slammed my head on the wood, trying to clear it. It worked, and I pounded my head on it a few more times, until I was certain I could think clearly.

I couldn't hear anything from Jace, not even a whimper, and instantly knew he had passed out from the pain of it. Nudge was silent, probably worrying over him, and Angel and Gazzy were most likely scared to hell and back, fifty times.

Fang sucked in a tight breath as I slowly shook the rag free into the sink, careful not to snag the claws. "Holy _fuck_!" He said, grabbing my hand. I hissed in pain and he lightened his hold.

"Do you have _claws_!?"

I nodded tightly, wishing he would let go. His fingers were pressing on the claws, stressing the already raw skin around them. He dropped them, bringing me close for a hug.

I heard somebody crying in the background, and Nudge asking through tears, "Will he be okay?"

I pulled my head back from Fang's hold long enough to tell her, "Yes. Just…wait a while."

Nudge glanced up at me, her eyes red and watery. "A while…like Fang had to wait for you?"

Her face was full of dread as I nodded, and let my head fall back to Fang. I brought my arms up, trying to hug him back without using my fingers and hands. It worked- kind of- and I felt a tear fall onto my shoulder.

I leaned my head back to see Fang's face, two solid tear tracks running down. Another tear started to fall and I brushed it away with my knuckle. "Don't cry," I whispered, carefully holding his cheek. He leaned into the touch, shaking his head.

"You're not going to, you know…" He muttered, his face scared. I got what he meant, the days and weeks and maybe months of waiting, waiting for a twitch, for a sign, for me to wake up. I knew what it felt like, and so did Jace.

The sitting forever, and the waiting, and the tears and the pain. It never seems to end, because there's so much of it. On and on and on, until your heart hurts so much you think it's already cracked and broken, you were just too numb to realize it was happening.

And then you can't breathe anymore. You feel like your body is shutting down, turning itself off, just to get away from the pain.

Yes.

I know what it feels like.

I shook my head, clinging to him. "No…not this time." The truth was, I had a pretty good chance of passing out. But not of the whole coma-thing. Fang's face relaxed a little, but then stressed again. He picked up more rags and held them to my hands. I carefully wrapped them around my fingers and leaned back.

I felt my eyelids starting to drop. My fingers ached, and I knew that I had already lost too much blood. Amazing, isn't it, that a few claws sticking out of your fingers can drain all of your blood?

I fought the heavy blanket threatening to push down on me. Fang stepped closer, and I saw his eyes. They were still so dark, but so worried and full of desperation. No, I told myself. Not doing this to him again.

I shoved the blanket off of my mind, and tightened the rags around my fingers. I took a stumbling step to the stairs, and another. I started to fall a little.

Fang's hands snatched me, and he picked me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep myself up. His face was so worried, I felt something in me crack. I felt so bad for putting him through these things again and again. Sometimes once is enough.

I was going to try as hard as I could not to. I didn't want to see him like this, the cool and strong picture of him ripped off.

I realized he was talking to me.

"Where are you trying to go?" I tightened my arms around his neck and waved my hand in any general direction.

"I was going to look for my backpack," I muttered, and leaned my head against Fang's chest. He sighed, and walked where ever. I couldn't see anything because I had my face pressed against his shirt. "I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice muffled.

Fang stopped walking, bending down and putting me next to him. I kept a hand around his arm, just in case. My backpack was sitting on the floor in front of me, and I opened up the front pocket.

All I saw was darkness.

I stuck my hand in, just to make sure.

Nothing.

Fang's brow wrinkled. "What are you looking for?" I opened the other pockets and dumped everything out. Shirts, pants, sweatshirts, jackets. My cell phone was in there, but I couldn't find them.

I felt a tear start in the corner of my eye.

"The pills. Four bottles. Gone, gone." My head snapped up and I hurriedly brushed the tear away as I realized something. "Jace's backpack. Where is it?"

"Downstairs," Fang said bluntly. I started to get up, putting my hand on his shoulder to keep me steady. I took a step and felt my knees wobble, and the next one brought me down.

Fang caught me again, holding me in his arms. He towed me down the hall, down the stairs, and we found Nudge crying over Jace. I put my hand on his chest and pushed.

"Stop here," I whispered, my voice scared and tiny. Fang obeyed, putting me down next to Jace. I placed a palm on his wrist, counting the beats. My heart stopped in dread.

"Nudge! Where's his backpack?!" My voice was frantic, and I peeled the blood soaked rags away from his fingers. They were red, and looked like they had been stained by raspberry juice. Nudge's head snapped up, tears cascading down.

"What?"

"GET IT!" I roared in her face, and ripped his shirt off. I ripped it in two, pressing the halves to his fingers. "NOW!"

Nudge ran off, coming back seconds later with his backpack. I almost snapped the zippers off in my hurry, and found the pill bottles.

But only two of them. And they weren't the ones we needed most.

"_Shit_," I muttered. "Shit, Shit! SHIT!" I felt a hand slap my head. Max's.

"Don't you speak like that in this house! Angel has ears, you know!" I turned my head to see her face, mad and mean. I knew she was just picking on me.

I stood carefully, Fang helping me. I stared right back at Max with an equally mean stare. I almost opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it. I twisted my head and saw Fang, his teeth grinding together. I squeezed his hand.

"Nudge, give him four of the blue ones, two of the yellow ones," I told her. The clatter she made told me she had spilled them. Iggy helped her gather them, and she handed him the required colors. He popped them in Jace's mouth.

"Take a handful of the yellow ones out, and give me the rest," I said, and the bottle was put in my hand. I cracked the top off and fished out a few, popping them in my own mouth and swallowing. I closed them up, stuck them in my pocket, and continued glaring at Max.

She was weakening, I could tell. But I couldn't stay here forever and wait for her to break down. "Give him one yellow in a half an hour. Three blues in an hour. Keep giving them to him, and I'll be back soon."

I could feel the pills in me, strengthening me. I clenched my fists, wanting to hit Max back so much I could already feel my fist crashing into her face. Fang's hand still held me, and I yanked away, stalking off.

I threw open the door, stepping out into the night. I wrapped the rags around my fingers better, until I thought they'd stay on. I looked around me, and took a few steps forward. I felt a hand close around my arm again.

I turned, right into Fang. He was warm against me, the cold night wind hitting me from behind. I let out a small shiver.

"Jesus, you can't go out there now," he muttered, and pressed his face to my head. I fought against his tight arms, which tightened even more around me.

"Fang, I have to go to New York," I whispered. "I have to save my brother." I felt a tear slip out my eye, and Fang's arms relaxed a tiny bit against me, until he could see my face. He kept an arm around me and wiped my tear away with the other.

I stared up at him, trying to put all I had into that look. He sighed, nodding his head.

"Fine." I nodded, stepping away from him. He caught my arm and I looked at him, trying to give him that look again. He handed me his sweatshirt. "Wear it," he said tightly. I could see his eyes in the dim light and took it, pulling it over my head.

It was big on me, and Fang was only wearing a thin shirt. He was staying anyway. I nodded, giving him a careful hug, and looked up at the sky, nervous. I walked away from him and quickly scaled the drainpipe without using my claws. Fang stared up at me, confused.

I climbed the roof, grateful that it wasn't as steep as it looked. When I got to the very top I took a deep breath and ran forward, stepping fast so that my feet slipped only a little on the thin ice. I jumped off the roof, flapping my wings as hard as I could, and caught the updraft I had 'seen' from the ground. In a few seconds, I looked down and behind me. Fang was gone.

I sucked in a rattling breath and flapped my wings again, flying off into the dark night.

_New York, here I come_, I said in my head. The stars were bright around me as I caught every updraft I 'saw'.

Okay, I get that it sounds a little confusing. But I can see them, and so does my brother. Our eyes, with the combined effect of the feline and avian DNA, can see the wind currents. It's weird, I know, but that's how they work.

That's how the genes mutated together to make us who we are, like out sixth sense (We can smell electricity) and our claws (second set of muscles).

The scientists messed up. I know. We both know.


	4. Chapter 4

ACTUALLY READ THIS. DON'T GET PISSED AND EXIT. HEAR ME OUT. NOTE ON STORY AT BOTTOM.

I'm sorry to let everyone down, but nobody has been reading my stories lately. (Stats have gone almost flat) I'm also really sorry to all you out there who have notice things on me and thought this was a new chapter. (Don't worry, I haven't stopped writing it.)

If any of you have heard, I'm taking these stories off of . Not your fault, mine. I don't tend to stay within the boundaries, and I like writing stories that have nothing to do with other stories, and so cannot be called fanfiction because they are totally different. They're just random stories.

Writing random stories is fun for me, and I get it out there in around sixty or so pages. They're my best work, but nobody cn read them, so as a writer I feel the need to get the stories out there. i've started a new website, and I'm going to post everything up there, including my stories that are here on

Strange as it is, I'll also leave the stories on here. I'll tell you on my profile, updating it every week if possible, just how far in each of my stories I am. I'll tell you about my new stories and I'll post the first few chapters of each fanfiction I write on here. If anyobe wants to read the good stuff, you'll have to check out my website.

I really do apologize for pissing you guys off. I've gotten a lot of really good reviews, but they're all for my dead stories. (there's a meaning to the word 'complete', people. It means it's dead, and I won't update it anymore.)

But, anyway, my website isn't totally polished yet. I'm moving stories to it right now, then editing them and finishing them off later, when I can get access to my own computer rather than the computer at the library. My home computer has all the chapters of every story, edited and polished to a high gloss for mass impressiveness. You can also check them out there.

I have two blogs, and might be adding more. One is my own randomness, the other is site updates. If you want to hear from me or talk to me, check me out there, too.

Apologies, again, here is where you can contact me.

And my website is

.com

Don't leave out the weebly, because I can't afford a dot com so I have a free one.

Note- to fans of this story, I will add the new chapters I have once I get home and connect to the net. After that, though, you'll have to be checking out the site. Yeah, punishment, punishment. Sorry, once again.

Love and Awesomeness,

Abbey Dawn


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